<p>To reveal the complicated mechanism on the graphite trade changes affecting the global value chain (GVC), this paper proposes an integrated framework to simulate the structural changes in the GVC caused by the cascading propagation of trade changes in the global trade network. We take China, the policy implementer of graphite export adjustment. The results firstly prove that the positions of countries in the graphite GVC are mainly determined by the graphite trade. The countries with high VRCAs and GVCPs, such as Spain, France, China, and India, are all important exporters of graphite deep-processing products, indicating that turning graphite export structure towards deep-processing products can be helpful for graphite industry to gain higher industrial competitiveness. Second, the results show that China’s graphite export adjustment has both direct and indirect impacts on the graphite trade of some countries. The countries whose trade value of graphite products decreases significantly when China reduces the exports, are mainly the major importers of China. Meanwhile, although Germany is not a significant importer of graphite raw materials and primary products from China, its exports still decrease significantly with China reducing the exports. Third, the results show that China’s graphite export adjustment has significant impacts on the graphite GVC structure. When China reduces graphite exports, the countries where the industrial competitiveness significantly changes are the USA and South Korea. The industrial competitiveness of graphite industry in the USA is more sensitive to China’s reduction of graphite primary products.</p>