The United States must continue to work closely with Asian allies and partners to deter Chinese coercion in the South China Sea, uphold freedom of commerce and navigation, and oppose unilateral actions that change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. It must also protect American workers and businesses from unfair trade practices and safeguard our technologies. At the same time, we must keep open channels of dialogue with China to reduce the risk of armed conflict and facilitate cooperation in pursuit of shared goals.
Call on Congress to responsibly manage the U.S.-China relationship by supporting diplomatic and security investments to deter Chinese coercion, sustaining appropriate export controls, opposing costly trade wars, and supporting high-level diplomacy between Washington and Beijing.
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In October, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to pause or scale back tit-for-tat punitive trade measures that began soon after Trump entered office. Under the temporary agreement, the Trump administration has dropped its threats of an additional 100% in tariffs, halved existing fentanyl-related tariffs, and paused a planned expansion of Department of Commerce export controls. In return, the Chinese government will delay certain rare earth export controls and resume soybean purchases. However, Chinese restrictions on some rare earths remain, and economists question whether China will fully meet its soybeans pledge.
On the security front, China continues to grow its military capabilities and assert a more aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific, including around Taiwan and in the South China Sea. In a rare call to Trump in November, Xi raised the issue of Taiwan following China’s denouncement of comments from the Japanese prime minister that Japan could respond militarily to a Chinese blockade or invasion of Taiwan. President Trump will visit China in April, where Xi is expected to push President Trump closer to Beijing’s perspective.
