"International trade has helped many nations get vital medical supplies during this pandemic, yet a number of new, protectionist initiatives have been taken or discussed which could disrupt global value chains. This column presents calculations showing that national manufacturing sectors all across the globe are highly interdependent, that these connections have risen since the 2008/9 crisis, and that China is pivotal in the network of dependencies. Given this, policies that seek to hinder supply-chain trade could prove costly. "

Support: Digital