December 12, 2019
Beyond the Trade War
A Competitive Approach to Countering China
The verdict is in on U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Regardless of whether U.S. negotiators soon reach a deal with Beijing, the administration’s initial gambit has run aground. After wreaking havoc on portions of the U.S. economy with his trade policies, the president is now angling to freeze or roll back tariffs on Chinese products in exchange for almost nothing. Deal or no deal in the coming days, it is clear that the United States needs a fundamentally different approach to economic competition with China—one that bolsters U.S. technological and financial power while countering Beijing’s malign activities directly.
Tariff hikes haven’t forced Beijing to capitulate. Chinese negotiators are reportedly making only vague commitments to assuage U.S. concerns about currency manipulation and intellectual property theft. They have refused outright to accept a much-needed enforcement mechanism on international trade practices or to make structural reforms to promote economic competition at home and abroad. At best, Beijing will restore agricultural purchases to pre–trade war levels, offering as its biggest concession something it wants to do anyway: let in more U.S. capital to balance China’s checkbook and reenergize sluggish growth.
Read the full article in Foreign Affairs.
Explore a series of recommendations for policymakers by Martijn Rasser, Elizabeth Rosenberg and Paul Scharre:
More from CNAS
-
Principles and Policy Options for Designing Better Investment Barriers
This testimony focuses on options for designing an effective program to address the national security risks that can arise from certain U.S. investments in countries of concer...
By Emily Kilcrease
-
U.S. Economic Security Strategy, Authorities, and Bureaucratic Capacity
Watch:...
By Emily Kilcrease
-
Comments on Provisions Pertaining to U.S. Investments in Certain National Security Technologies and Products in Countries of Concern
Submitted by: Sarah Bauerle Danzman (Associate Professor, Indiana University Bloomington; Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council), Tim Fist (Fellow, Technology and National Security ...
By Emily Kilcrease, Tim Fist, Sarah Bauerle Danzman, Ngor Luong & Emily Weinstein
-
Sharper: Economic Statecraft
As competition between the United States and China escalates, and the war in Ukraine continues, countries have embraced new forms of economic statecraft to accomplish key fore...
By Anna Pederson & Charles Horn