Shifting supply chains from China to Southeast Asia is hard but necessary, Economy

When the latest Apple headphones are no longer marked “Assembled in China”, and are instead “Assembled in Vietnam”, is it a sign that the hub for global manufacturing has shifted from China to Southeast Asia? The effects of the China-US trade war and the Covid-19 pandemic have been profoundly felt by manufacturers globally, pushing businesses to roll out their “China + 1” strategy, which involves diversifying their supply chain or business operations beyond China to mitigate risks. Yet while the “+1” strategy may seem sound, supply chain planning is not a simple arithmetic equation but a complex issue fraught with…