X4 simulates the economy for every faction. You can starve factions of certain parts by sabotaging or destroying their factories and they won't be able to build new ships, or if you're especially jewish you can deliberately sell them certain parts for super cheap so their shipyards will use your parts instead of their own, which puts their own part factories out of business (eventually) and makes them entirely reliant on your factories. Ambushing is kinda awkward in 4X but it can be done, and you can definitely do hit and run strikes against resource transports or factories.

This goes for all resources and goods, except one. AI factions will never run out of money. Anything else you can bleed them dry of, but money is only a concern for the player.