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And then there's pharmaceuticals. A large percentage of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in many of the medicines Americans take come from China – ibuprofen, acetaminophen, some antibiotics and some blood pressure drugs, to name just a few.

US companies also import active ingredients for other drugs from India, but India depends on China for the chemicals to make many of these ingredients.

When Americans shop in stores, they often comment that everything on the shelves seems to be marked“Made in China.” But materials and minerals aside, there are plenty of things that aren't labeled that are also made in China. Many of the less advanced semiconductors used in autos and consumer products come from China, for example.

America's – and indeed the world's – overdependence on China didn't just happen. Supply-chain dominance has long been one of China's industrial-policy goals. China has worked hard to lessen its dependence on other countries and increase those countries' dependence on China.

By giving companies in targeted industries tax breaks, low-interest loans, subsidies and protection from foreign competition, China has encouraged companies to develop massive economies of scale. The resulting lowered costs allow them to flood overseas markets and put foreign competitors out of business.

The result is an economy that by some measures accounts for 35% of global manufacturing. And China hasn't restricted its focus to final assembly. It has worked, often successfully as in the case of rare earths, to dominate the upstream materials and components as well.

Its tactics have at times bordered on predatory. According to a Wall Street Journal article on China's rare-earths dominance,

Washington is more than vaguely aware of the dangers of all this overdependence. Administrations of both parties have turned to industrial policy in response. President Joe Biden's administration set out to subsidize American manufacturing through legislation like the Chips Act. President Donald Trump uses high tariffs in an effort to achieve the same ends.

American companies that have the ability to diversify are moving to do so. Some of those that manufacture in China are bringing production back to the US or moving it to other countries.

The big problem these efforts face is China's scale advantage. Because of it, Princeton's Aaron Friedberg maintains,“No country alone can contain the second China shock” and China's increasing dominance of the most advanced technologies.