President Joe Biden’s efforts to improve trade relations with Europe have resulted in a shift toward greater US reliance on imports from Europe than from China. The pivot came after the US and Europe shelved duties on bilateral trade worth US$21.5 billion in 2021, paused an aircraft-manufacturing dispute dating to 2004, and launched talks to reduce overproduction of steel and aluminum. Over the past year, the value of US imports from Europe has increased by almost 13%, whereas US imports from China only grew by 6%.

Smartphone manufacturers like Apple Inc. are working to reduce their dependence on China as a trade war between Washington and Beijing intensifies. In the year through March, Apple tripled its Indian production footprint to manufacture more than US$7 billion of iPhones. India now accounts for some 7% of Apple’s global iPhone output, and annual sales in the country have surged to US$6 billion.

Vietnam is another hub for companies looking to diversify away from China. Over the past seven years, US container imports of Vietnamese furniture grew 186% versus only 5% growth in such imports from China. Vietnam now accounts for half of China’s total export volume for US-bound furniture products, according to Descartes Systems Group Inc. Recently, orders for Vietnamese furniture are beginning to decline due to falling global demand for consumer goods.

Beijing’s industrial policies have catapulted China to become the largest exporter of electric vehicles after Germany. This year, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are on track to reach about 40% of China’s total vehicle deliveries. Meanwhile, Europe’s share of global electric vehicle sales are “likely to grow this year as more models become available and supply-chain issues ease,” according to Bloomberg Intelligence.