"US Must Contain China with Export Controls"… 412 High-Dependency Items

Victor Cha, US CSIS Deputy Director Report
US Advises Using Leverage on China by Targeting Key Vulnerabilities

It has been revealed that China imports more than 400 items for which it depends on the United States and its allies for over 70% of the supply. Amid escalating geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, there is an analysis suggesting that the U.S. and its allies could leverage this as a tool for imposing regulations against China.

On the 9th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing a report by Victor Cha, Deputy Director for Asia and Korea Chair at the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, that at least 412 products imported by China have a dependency rate exceeding 70% on the U.S. and its allies. This amounts to an annual value of $47 billion.

According to the report, China imports silver powder necessary for solar panel production from Japan, the U.S., and South Korea. Nickel powder and other components used in batteries for electric vehicle production are 86% imported from Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Two-thirds of the sorghum used in the production of Baijiu, a traditional Chinese liquor, depends on the U.S.

Looking at the data by country, China’s highest dependency was on exports from Japan. Japan exports 124 items to China on which China depends over 70% among its allies. Following Japan were the U.S. with 87 items, Germany with 64, South Korea with 28, France with 27, New Zealand with 20, Canada with 18, and Australia with 14. In terms of value, China imported the most from the U.S., totaling $11.5 billion, followed by imports from Australia amounting to $10.6 billion.

Deputy Director Cha suggested that the U.S. could join forces with countries sharing its stance to weaponize this leverage in relations with China. He proposed that instead of China using political retaliation such as banning imports of products or weaponizing resources whenever conflicts arise with certain countries, the U.S. and its allies should exploit China’s vulnerabilities and launch countermeasures. China has previously retaliated against multiple countries by suspending imports of Norwegian salmon, banning Australian wine imports, and halting sales of South Korean group tour packages. Regarding South Korea, China had suspended group tour package sales starting in 2017, the year following the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in 2016, but resumed sales on this day after six years.

Deputy Director Cha called for the U.S. to envision an economic alliance based on the deterrence principle of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Charter. Article 5 of the NATO Charter states that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all members, prompting military support. He suggested that the U.S. and its allies build an economic alliance, borrowing the concept of Article 5, to jointly respond to China’s economic retaliation. This idea aligns with the agreement reached by leaders at the Group of Seven (G7) summit held in Japan last May to jointly respond to any economic retaliation by China.

The annual import value of items on which China mainly depends on the U.S. and its allies is $47 billion, a very small portion of China’s total imports of $2.7 trillion. However, Deputy Director Cha’s analysis indicates that supply chain risks could have a cascading effect across other industries and exert significant pressure on China.

Deputy Director Cha said, "China always believes it can isolate or harass any country," and added, "They assume there will be no joint response." He emphasized, "If the allies want, two countries can play this game."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.