China rewrote the rules of global business a few weeks ago. You probably missed it. Two innocuous-sounding regulations from the State Council threaten to upend business as usual for any company that does work in China or engages with a Chinese counterpart.
Demonic forces have been unleashed on global supply chains. Credit State Council Orders No. 834 and No. 835. Issued in April, 834 is innocently titled ¡°Provisions on the Security of Industrial and Supply Chains,¡± while 835 is equally bland: It is ¡°Regulations of the People¡¯s Republic of China on Countering Unjustifiable Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Measures Imposed by Foreign States.¡±
At first glance, the two regulations feel like one more step in the steady escalation of trade sanctions between China and the United States. This process is well known: One country imposes restrictions on the export of particular products to or certain recipients in the other, and the target retaliates with restraints of its own.
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