Beyond short-term economic disruptions and increased recession worries, the spreading coronavirus is sowing the seeds of a broad transformation of the global supply chains that for years brought low consumer prices and high corporate profits on products such as cellphones, computers and household goods.
China looks to be the biggest loser as U.S. producers step up plans to reduce their reliance on the world’s second-biggest economy, which has long enjoyed a central, dominant role in an international manufacturing network that ships parts and materials back and forth among different countries before assembling them into finished products.
A slow U.S. exodus from China was already underway because of soaring wages in China and President Trump’s trade and tech wars, with companies such as Apple announcing plans last year to diversify its manufacturing, which was heavily reliant on China. Trump’s punitive tariffs on Chinese imports and the increasingly broad bipartisan support in the U.S. to get tough with Beijing have added to the cost and political pressure for companies operating in China.
Read more at: As coronavirus cripples global supply lines, more U.S. firms looking to leave China - Los Angeles Times
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