When Sino-American Struggle Disrupts the Supply Chain: Licensing Intellectual Property in a Changing Trade Environment

Abstract

Through legislative changes, tariff wars, and executive actions, the Trump Administration has injected new urgency into international technology and supply chain management, particularly between the United States and China. Analytically, the situation invites a perspective that links practical/on-the-ground responses by commercial actors to the politics of technological competition between superpowers. This paper approaches the management of supply chain disruption in terms of a key security issue motivating recent changes to the trade environment: the protection of intellectual property. After reviewing critical policy developments on both sides of the Pacific in conjunction with recent trade statistics, we turn to a discussion of the opportunity that intellectual property licensing provides for managing supply chain linkages between the United States and China. Viewing intellectual property as both a driver and a solution of trade difficulties highlights the sorts of cross-jurisdictional nuances that can better inform policy and business decisions alike in the broader international trade regime.