There are growing signs of the global supply chain — long reliant on China as the workshop to the world — is being permanently transformed. Heightened trade tensions between the US and China have disrupted global supply lines. There are no investments, no purchases. The trade war is causing people to stop investment because they don’t know where to put the money. China is expected to see more factory shutdowns as the trade war that’s roiled the global supply chain exacerbates an exodus. The era of ‘Made in China’ was over five years back because young Chinese workers no longer like working in a factory. Tariff-related uncertainty has made it difficult for clients to plan their supply-chain requirements, causing them to be more conservative in placing orders. American retailers have already taken up all the manufacturing capacity in Vietnam in their rush out of China.

While Chinese factories suffer, manufacturers in other Asian hubs are beneficiaries – but up to a point. But the rush to nearby Asian nations is also reaching a saturation point. Vietnam, for example, is completely full. There’s no extra capacity for US companies to get in. No nation is tariff-proof enough to serve as a global supply hub.