Despite ongoing debates about Sino-American decoupling, the global economy remains as integrated as ever. Whenever either superpower tries to restrict ties with the other, it accelerates a broader process of adaptation and adjustment that is making the system more resilient and harder to control unilaterally.
SINGAPORE – Every new restriction on trade between the United States and China is supposed to pull the two economies apart—or so we are told. But the global economy refuses to cooperate with the conventional wisdom. In fact, each round of tariffs, export controls, and investment screening has been accompanied by more of the investments that cement the Sino-American economic relationship. Until policymakers recognize this paradox, talk of “decoupling” will describe a world that does not exist.
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