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Gordon Chang Discusses U.S. Delinking from China on Real America’s Voice


Top Points

  • The U.S. is strategically reducing its economic dependence on China: Gordon Chang explained that new trade restrictions, export controls, and import limits show a deliberate effort by the United States to separate key industries from Chinese influence.

  • Import restrictions target industrial components like drill bits and manufacturing materials: Chang said the U.S. is encouraging companies to find domestic or allied suppliers to strengthen industrial resilience and reduce vulnerability in critical sectors.

  • Delinking is as much about national security as economics: He emphasized that reducing reliance on Chinese imports is intended to protect U.S. industries and ensure strategic autonomy in the event of future geopolitical tensions.


Full Report:

On a recent segment of Real America’s Voice, Gordon Chang, a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and author of several books on U.S.–China relations, discussed the growing trend of the United States economically and strategically delinking from China. He highlighted how new trade restrictions, supply chain shifts, and import limits, including policies affecting items such as industrial drill bits, reflect an accelerating move toward reducing reliance on Chinese manufacturing.


Export Restrictions and Supply Chain Realignment

Chang explained that Washington’s recent policies aim to limit China’s access to key technologies and industrial inputs. He pointed to U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors and manufacturing materials as part of a broader strategy to protect critical industries. At the same time, Beijing has imposed its own restrictions on rare-earth minerals and other high-demand materials, deepening the push on both sides to decouple essential supply lines.


He argued that these mutual restrictions illustrate how trade interdependence has become a point of vulnerability for both nations. In his view, delinking is less about isolating China completely and more about ensuring that vital U.S. industries, especially defense, energy, and advanced manufacturing, are not dependent on potentially hostile foreign supply chains.


Limiting Imports and Diversifying Production

Chang also discussed how the U.S. is moving to reduce imports of certain industrial components from China, including metals and precision equipment such as drill bits used in manufacturing and energy production. He said that such steps reflect a policy trend focused on securing domestic alternatives and encouraging companies to source from allied nations.


According to Chang, this reorientation has short-term costs but significant long-term benefits for national security and economic independence. He noted that reshoring production to North America or establishing partnerships with trusted suppliers in Asia and Europe can strengthen U.S. resilience in a future crisis.


National Security and Economic Implications

Throughout the discussion, Chang emphasized that delinking is not solely an economic matter but a national security priority. He warned that overdependence on Chinese imports leaves the United States exposed if geopolitical tensions escalate. By reducing reliance on foreign materials and technology, Chang argued, the U.S. can better safeguard its industrial base and maintain strategic autonomy.


He concluded by saying that this process will take time but represents a necessary adjustment to a new global reality in which security, technology, and trade are increasingly intertwined.


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