The "Made in China" label is ubiquitous in the United States, stamped on everything from industrial machinery to a pair of flip flops. But risks — from rising costs, to a trade war, to a pandemic — have prompted companies to rethink their relationships with suppliers and China.

"We've realized that we put too much power in a single country," said Dawn Tiura, CEO of Sourcing Industry Group.

The change in tone from U.S. based supply chains is not a mass exodus from China. Instead, it's an approach that embraces diversification.

Camille Batiste, senior vice president of global supply chain and procurement at Archer Daniels Midland, saw the disruption first hand. The company had multiple primary suppliers of a key ingredient for its energy drink customers, but they were located in China.

When the pandemic disrupted China production and exports, Batiste and her team had to "scrounge around and try to find other suppliers."

The procurement team ended up finding a suitable ingredient in South America, but it wasn't exactly the same as the product it was accustomed to bringing in from China. ADM had to adjust its internal manufacturing to use the material.

The short-term fix allowed ADM to keep product flowing, but it also brought to light the longer-term risks of having primary suppliers in one region or nation.

"That's fundamentally changed our supply chain in our nutrition business," she said.

Batiste said she will continue to seek out other sources for the key ingredient.

"We need to build a supply chain that can also receive material from other places," Batiste said. "We just need to always have ... multiple sources."

As the pandemic stretched on, no sourcing destination was immune. Lockdowns would lift in one region, only to be imposed in another. Supply chain executives became entrenched in a whack-a-mole situation that continues today. Single sourcing from China was not the only risk; single sourcing from any one region was a risk.

"You need to hedge your bets," Dale Rogers, professor of business in the supply chain management department at Arizona State University, said during a Resilinc webinar in July. "You can't just be totally sourced in one place."

That realization has pushed supply chains to diversify their supplier bases, with a few geographies and strategies emerging as dominant.

When the U.S. imposed Section 301 tariffs on imports from China, many companies looked to Vietnam.

The country has high levels of literacy and relatively low labor costs, said Eddy Malesky, director of the Duke Center for International Development, during a Flexport webinar in July.

Foreign investors view Vietnam as relatively stable politically, and property rights are more secure, according to Malesky. Electronics and automotive components are growing industries in Vietnam.

"This may be Vietnam's moment," Malesky said.

Vietnam is also stepping up in a way that's appealing to businesses, said Tom Gould, vice president of global customs at Flexport, on the same webinar. That means suppliers in Vietnam, not buyers, figure out the sourcing, production, quality assurance, environmental issues and labor concerns.

"Vietnam has ... been able to say to their customers, 'You want a product; I'll deliver you the product,' as opposed to, 'You want a product; tell me how to build it, and I'll make it for you,'" Gould said.

Companies have also sought suppliers in Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

But throughout Southeast Asia, human rights concerns remain. Many countries in the region also lack developed transport infrastructure and ports, which only adds to lead times and risks.

By Shefali Kapadia