Thompson: US dependence on China cannot be fixed outside conflict
Ben Thompson · What Happens When the AI Boom Runs Out of Money · Invest Like The Best · Aug 18, 2026 · at 2:08
Ben Thompson explains why market dynamics prevent Western companies from reshoring manufacturing components away from China without forced geopolitical pressure.
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“I think there's a little bit of magical thinking, which I just invoked in terms of manufacturing and whether it be fabs, whether that be actuators, like all these sort of precursors, like the, I think the degree to which we are dependent on China is underappreciated. And is not something that is going to be fixed outside of a conflict, just because fixing so many of these things is going to be dramatically like dumb. Like if your competitor is sourcing from China and you're going to start sourcing or getting things from the U S you're going to be at such a disadvantage, relatively speaking, that you're just not going to do it. So you do it when you have literally no choice.”
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