European Central Bank Warns of US, Europe Overreliance on China for Critical Supplies

Bank says reliance on China for key raw materials leaves the United States and Europe exposed, urges targeted de‑risking.
European Central Bank Warns of US, Europe Overreliance on China for Critical Supplies
Wheel loaders fill trucks with ore at the MP Materials rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California, on Jan. 30, 2020. Steve Marcus/Reuters
Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
|Updated:
0:00

Europe and the United States have become significantly more vulnerable to supply disruptions from China in key sectors such as energy, health care, and digital technologies, the European Central Bank said on Tuesday, warning that even small shocks to these “critical dependencies” could have outsized economic costs.

“Although the critical dependencies constitute a minor share of total trade and inputs to production, any disruption to their supply yields disproportionate economic costs owing to their low substitutability,” ECB economists wrote in an abstract to a new bulletin published on Aug. 5.
Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
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