Takeaways from a trip to DC

A look at the view from DC on China

The view of China in Washington DC continues to be one of suspicion, fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. These are the themes and key messages heard during a recent trip.

1: Security, Security, Security.  Trade & Commerce is secondary to National Security

·       National security is increasingly used as a lens for all U.S.-China issues, limiting the effectiveness of other tools.

2: Concerns about Chinese supply chains and other influences on the supply chains

·       Chinese companies are rapidly expanding across the value chain, which presents risks that Washington struggles to understand.

·       This growth creates more fragmented and complex global supply chains, complicating U.S. relations with other countries that want Chinese investment and moving supply chains away from Chinese influence.

3: China Week is seen as largely performative with minimal legislative progress.

·       China Week reflects Congress's willingness to act on China, but the fact that some measures were not advanced shows that some in the U.S. are still cautious about going too aggressively against China.

·       Two omissions from China Week were bills related to outbound investment and the de minimis exception.  Executive Orders are instead dealing with these from the Biden Administration.

5: Tariffs are a feature of US policy now, not a bug.

6: The “small yard, high fence,” is growing bigger with no endgame.

7: There is uncertainty about how much cooperation between both nations is possible in the current environment.

8: Lack of clear strategy on what to do with China, and how to handle national security and trade issues.