Economics
Nov 21, 2025
Dani Rodrik
China’s export machine demands the attention of economic policymakers everywhere. But erecting trade barriers is the wrong response and distracts from the need for more targeted measures to address the risks to national security, innovation, and jobs.
CAMBRIDGE – As China’s trade surplus grows, with its manufacturing exports increasingly dominating global markets, the rest of the world is grappling with how to respond. Should countries erect trade barriers against China? Try to decouple from China by reshoring manufacturing and building national supply chains? Emulate its strategy of boosting manufacturing through industrial policies?
