Mapping the tech firms ensnared in rising US-China tensions

Tech companies can run from geopolitics, but they can’t hide.

Temasek, one of the world’s top state investors, recently said it would take a “geopolitical lens” to investments it makes, favoring those serving large domestic markets. That’s a sign that companies in the crosshairs of US-China tensions are in for more challenges.

In the years since the Trump administration first upped the ante in its trade war with China, the tit-for-tat spat between the world’s two largest economies has grown to affect global companies across a wide range of industries.

These include automakers like Tesla, which manufactures a significant volume of its cars in China, chipmakers such as Micron and the Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation – China’s most advanced maker of memory chips – as well as AI firms, smartphone manufacturers, and companies that rely on these chips.

However, restrictions like trade blacklists and curbs that could restrict US investments in Chinese companies even further have often had far-reaching effects beyond the targeted firms.

UK-based Arm’s plan to offload its joint venture in China in the lead-up to its initial public offering has been held up for over a year by Chinese regulators seeking to retain the company’s presence in the country. The firm sells its blueprint designs to chip manufacturers.

China’s recent ban on the sale of Micron chips to operators of key domestic infrastructure has also implicated South Korean chipmakers like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.

In this visual story, we map out the firms that have been implicated – both directly and indirectly – by the gamut of export and investment restrictions. Note that this list is by no means exhaustive.

Singapore-washing

Some firms are taking preemptive measures to avoid scrutiny.

Fast-fashion company Shein, which was founded in Nanjing, has sought to distance itself from its home country by de-registering its main business entity in China and shifting its headquarters to Singapore. The firm’s founder and CEO, Chris Xu, also became a permanent resident of the city-state.

To diversify its operations, the firm is planning to build a manufacturing network in Brazil – and reportedly in Mexico – to serve its customers in Latin America.

Still, US lawmakers have called the firm out for exploiting a de minimis rule that allows it to export low-value goods from China – where Shein manufactures the bulk of its clothing – to consumers in the US without being taxed. The firm has also been asked to clarify whether it uses cotton tied to forced labor in China’s Xinjiang province.

Boston-headquartered Temu, the ecommerce marketplace run by PDD Holdings, is also being investigated for allegedly violating a law that bans the export of goods produced in Xinjiang to the US.

It’s unclear for now if Shein’s and Temu’s moves to distance themselves from China have paid off. While investigations are underway, neither Shein nor Temu have been affected by trade or business restrictions so far.

TikTok, the short-video app owned by ByteDance, has also become a pawn in the bilateral spat. The firm, which is helmed by Singaporean Shou Zi Chew and headquartered in Singapore and Los Angeles, has repeatedly come under fire in the US over concerns on its privacy and data handling practices.

Picking sides

China plus one

Credits