Decoupling is a structural, multi-year policy reality — export controls, entity lists and fab-subsidy programmes are institutionalised on both sides — but 2026 has shown it is not a one-way ratchet: the May 12 tariff truce and suspended rare-earth controls prove the relationship still oscillates between escalation and de-escalation, making single-headline volatility as important as the underlying structural trend.
📈 What changed: 2026-08-28 - Ahead of the ~2026-09-24 Trump-Xi White House summit, an extension of the Kuala Lumpur/Busan tariff truce is reported 'almost certain' (China not yet formally confirm…
| Indicator | Score | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Maturity higher is better · high confidence | 82/100 | A deeply entrenched, multi-year policy regime now oscillating between escalation and truce, not a settled equilibrium. |
| Evidence Strength higher is better · high confidence | 85/100 | Official government sources and multiple independent think-tanks corroborate the policy timeline in detail. |
| Commercial Proximity higher is better · high confidence | 85/100 | Direct, disclosed earnings impact today — this is not a speculative future policy risk. |
| Capital & Policy Support higher is better · high confidence | 85/100 | The single most heavily-funded, multi-jurisdiction coordinated policy regime in the corpus; the May 2026 truce eased tariffs, but enforcement and legislative escalation (procurement bans, investment curbs, AI OVERWATCH… |
| Crowding Risk lower is better · medium confidence | 68/100 | Among the most-owned, most-covered stocks globally, with valuation and flows whipsawing on individual policy headlines. |
| Reflexivity Risk lower is better · medium confidence | 54/100 | Among the most headline-sensitive themes in the corpus — single policy announcements move these stocks by double-digit percentages. |
Every indicator score is computed by the Northstar engine from analyst-set ordinal bands — never hand-written, never stored.
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