Trade policies are often a major factor in reshaping Global Value Chains, but firms' strategic choices play a crucial role in structuring value chains to ensure resilience and sustainability (Gary Gereffi, 2021). Companies moderate the impact of trade policies by locational switching and upgrading production profiles:

Locational Switching: Adjusting production sites, target markets, or suppliers to adapt to changing trade landscapes.
I. Production Switching: Relocating production to countries minimally affected by restrictions.
II. Market Switching: Redirecting products to alternative markets. Companies may pivot from exports to domestic sales in response to trade restrictions.
III. Supplier Switching: Adjusting sourcing partners, as for the U.S. ban case on Huawei. The latter turned to domestic or non-restricted foreign suppliers to maintain its supply chain.

Upgrading Production Profiles: Enhancing production processes, improving product quality, capturing more value, and moving into higher value-added roles. This "upgrading" allows firms to progress from assembly work to original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and onward, to design and eventually branding. As companies advance along this path, they also become more competitive, potentially shifting from being suppliers to direct rivals to their former clients. Thus, understanding and anticipating these strategic shifts is crucial for all players in the supply chain, as these former suppliers are no longer just vendors—they may transform into competing brands.