China has responded to US sanctions with its own set of punitive measures. An expert on international trade explains the standoff and what it means for countries and companies caught in the middle.
The two elements are essential in everything from smartphones to space electronics.
Roberto Hunger
Howard Yu, International Institute for Management Development (IMD)
The car industry is celebrating an increase in production as the chip shortage subsides, but it could be short-lived.
Magnetic levitation is just one of the interesting attributes that make superconductors so interesting.
Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library vie Getty Images
Superconductors are materials that can transmit electricity without any resistance. Researchers are getting closer to creating superconducting materials that can function in everyday life.
Semiconductor chips are electronic devices that store and process information. Today they can contain billions of microscopic switches on a chip smaller than a fingernail.
Taiwan dominates the market for semiconductors.
EPA-EFE/Ritchie B. Tongo
In the short term, the war is causing energy prices to soar and prompting fears of famine in some countries. In the long term, it could remake the modern global supply chain.
Intel Inside no longer means what it once did.
Slejven Djurakovic
Shutdowns at microchip factories, panic-buying by electronics manufacturers, and legions of workers and home-schoolers needing new devices, have put a global squeeze on the electronics market.