Apparel is one of the sectors most exposed to this collision. US and European import rules are pushing buyers towards fibre-to-finished-garment traceability, while China is moving to protect strategic supply chains from foreign pressure. A request for mill names, subcontractors, cotton origin, dyeing records or ownership links may look routine to a compliance team. Inside China, the same request may increasingly be viewed through a national-supply-chain-security lens.
That does not make China unusable. It makes China harder to document casually. The old audit model, which comprised sending a questionnaire, collecting a supplier map, and uploading everything to a global platform, is being replaced by a more legalistic system in which data purpose, storage, transfer and end-use matter.
