The head of a major U.S. defense contractor says his company is too dependent on Chinese manufacturers, despite growing national security concerns over China’s economic dominance, according to the Financial Times. He said it was impossible to sever all business ties.

Western manufacturers can “de-risk” China-based operations, said Greg Hayes, chief executive of Raytheon Technologies. Said In a recent interview, the FT said it would be “impossible” to “decouple” or completely exit China. Successive presidential administrations have focused on boosting U.S. domestic manufacturing to make it more competitive with China, but Western companies are struggling to navigate rising tensions between the United States and China.

“Think of $500″ [billion] The amount of trade going from China to the United States each year. More than 95% of rare earth materials and metals come from or are processed in China,” Hayes told the FT.

“I have no other choice,” he added. (Related: Pentagon seeks ways to buy tons of munitions for conflict with China under Biden’s defense budget)

Hayes said Raytheon relies on thousands of suppliers based in China.

For the United States, “decoupling” means reducing reliance on Chinese goods and supply chains, repatriating jobs, and ensuring America’s domestic capacity to sustain its military and civilian needs. according to To Harvard Business Review. China, on the other hand, uses its industrial power to strengthen global dependence on it, giving the Chinese government extraordinary control over the international economy.

“If we have to withdraw from China, it will take years to re-establish that capability at home or in other friendly countries,” Hayes told the FT.

The company is trying to establish sources outside of China for some of its more sensitive and critical supplies, but as with Russia after the Russian government’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, it is unlikely to pull all its operations out of China. You can’t. Hayes told the media.

Two of Raytheon’s subsidiaries, engine maker Pratt & Whitney and aviation systems specialist Collins Aerospace, have extensive operations in China, according to the FT, with direct employees based in China. It is said that there are about 2,000 people.

However, Raytheon will be among the top two U.S. defense contractors in 2022, with $41.9 billion, or 65% of total revenue, coming from deals with the U.S. Department of Defense, Homeland Security and intelligence agencies, as well as defense sales to foreign governments. obtained from , according to To defense news.

The FT said the Chinese government sanctioned Raytheon and rival Lockheed Martin in February over arms sales to Taiwan, but those sanctions did not apply to the company’s commercial arm.

Liberal internationalism believes in the universal rationality that everyone weighs costs and benefits for their own interests, and that their own interests overlap to create common interests.

This belief hinders America’s ability to compete with the CCP.

— Michael Sobolik (@michaelsobolik) June 19, 2023

Rather than sever all economic ties, the Biden administration embraced the concept of “risk aversion,” blocking China’s ability to acquire U.S. weapons technology while promoting “diversified” and “resilient” supply chains. .

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan: “We are in favor of risk reduction and diversification, not decoupling.” Said statement in April.

“Our export controls will continue to focus on technologies that could tip the military balance. added.

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