Read the headlines and the picture is clear: Geopolitical tensions between the United States and China have risen alarmingly, and the world’s two biggest economies are decoupling fast. US investors have been hearing that message and knocked US$200 billion (S$273 billion) off the stock market value of Apple in September, following reports that Beijing had banned the use of the US company’s phones by state officials.

Other US tech companies, including the chipmaker Micron Technology, have already felt the wrath of Chinese officials and seen their products cut from critical infrastructure. This appears part retaliation against Washington’s earlier moves to take an axe to some Chinese tech companies, such as Huawei, and ban US exports of leading-edge computer chips to China amid heated talk of trade war.