On September 19, 2022, Asia Society Northern California hosted an off-the-record Executive Roundtable discussion Global Risks and Opportunities in Restructured Asian Supply Chains in Silicon Valley at Amber Restaurant with William Chik, Consul General of Singapore in San Francisco, Etel Solingen, Distinguished Professor and the Thomas T. and Elizabeth C. Tierney Chair in Peace and Conflict Studies, Jeff Rittener, Chief Trade Officer and General Manager of International Trade Group (ITG) at Intel, and Lani Tito, Senior Export Administration Specialist with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) Western Regional Office. 

Advisory Council Member and Director of the Asia IP Law Project at University of California Berkeley Center For Law & Technology Mark Cohen moderated the discussion between the panelists and the VIP participants.

Beginning with Trump-era tariffs imposed against Chinese imports, a wave of geo- political, economic and other factors have been forcing multinationals based in China to consider whether some or all of their production needs to be relocated outside of China. The reasons are many, but include such factors as: higher costs of production in China, access to strategic materials or technologies (such as semiconductors), over-dependence on China for key medical supplies, increasing costs and delays in shipping goods, US export controls and other trade sanctions, and concerns about government interventions or retaliation.  

The Asia Society of Northern California was pleased to bring together experts, who are trying to navigate this complicated landscape to assess and ultimately reduce any perceived risks they may face. In this program they quantified the risks, considered the appropriate strategies, and exchanged experiences and best practices for increasingly fraught supply chains.