Its new deal with Vietnam and its fresh tariff threats issued to many other countries seem designed to reduce China’s role in their supply chain. Countries that had hoped to stay out of the new cold war now fear they are being forced to pick a side. To appease the world’s biggest market, they must anger the world’s biggest trader.

Rare earths at a factory in Tianjin, China. Manufacturers speak of resilience yet some keep only a week’s supply of rare earth magnets in their inventories © Doug Kanter/Bloomberg China’s weaponisatio

The trade truce between Washington and Beijing may be holding for now, but China is increasingly wary about what’s happening elsewhere: US efforts to forge deals that could isolate Chinese firms from global supply chains.