Following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae on 12 November 2025 that a Taiwan contingency could trigger a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, the PRC has engaged in a
comprehensive campaign of coercion against Japan including diplomatic, informational, military, and economic elements.
On 6 January 2026, the PRC escalated this campaign with the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), announcing that exports to Japan of dual-use items covered in its 2026 Catalogue of Dual-Use Items and Technologies would be subject to a new end-user standard (as opposed to previous item-specific restrictions). This catalogue includes critical minerals, electronics and sensors, and aerospace and maritime technologies. On 24 February 2026, the PRC took the additional step of adding 20 Japanese entities to its export control list and another 20 companies to its unverified list.
The new PRC controls have significant potential negative implications for U.S. national and economic security interests. They represent an aggressive extraterritorial regime with the potential to create cascading supply chain disruptions and negative downstream impact on the U.S. economy. The controls are also being used to aid PRC economic intelligence collection and could slow the buildup of U.S. and allied defense industrial capabilities.
This report provides an overview of the PRC’s ongoing campaign to coerce Japan and impose indirect damage on the United States through weaponization of supply chain interdependencies and coercion and intimidation of private firms. Especially as the U.S. and allies deepen their cooperation to promote more robust and resilient supply chains and better defend their economies against predatory economic practices, deep understanding and close monitoring of these tactics is important as the PRC will likely continue to use and refine these techniques for deployment in future campaigns of coercion.
Over the course of the past year, CIPE has convened private sector actors in Japan to identify best practices in economic security in Japan, focusing especially on how SMEs build and benefit from enhancing their economic security capabilities. CIPE has also engaged with leaders in Japan, democratic U.S. allies in the region, and AmCham representatives to share best practices around how to mitigate economic coercion and promote secure and resilient supply chains. In the coming year, CIPE will continue to partner with private sector leaders in Japan as well as regional allies and U.S. business representatives to advance concrete business and policy action to bolster economic security and democratic resilience.
Published Date: February 25, 2026