Last week, the White House announced a 100% Section 232 tariff on large drones and critical components, citing their dual-use applications. The duties are set to take effect on September 3.
USCBC interviews James Rowland, president and founder of Clear Arrow, who brings over 20 years of experience in international government affairs at Ford, on the US decision not to renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. He explains that the outcome, which does not trigger an exit clause but rather an annual review process, is an opportunity for Washington to address what it views as shortcomings of the agreement, bolster North American competitiveness, and set rules for Chinese participation in the US auto space.
At the Aspen Security Forum and in an accompanying Bloomberg interview this week, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reiterated that the new managed trade framework with China will focus on purchase commitments and tariffs.
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) will soon formally review extending the first batch of Section 301 tariffs covering $34 billion worth of imports from China from Trump’s first term, including medical devices, robotics, and aerospace products.
The National People’s Congress Standing Committee has approved revisions to the Trademark Law, effective January 1, 2027. Compared to previous amendments, which adjusted the law at the margins, this revision is a more heavy-handed overhaul of measures handling bad faith trademark filings and regulating branding activities. The new version builds on the draft released for public comments in February and includes several positive changes recommended by USCBC.
At this year’s Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, China’s top financial regulators announced the Shanghai International Financial Center Offshore Finance Action Plan, which aims to make the RMB more usable for offshore trading, settlement, financing, and risk management.
This tracker monitors direct diplomatic interactions between the United States and China, documenting high-level meetings, phone calls, and official visits between American and Chinese government officials, starting with the second Trump administration.
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2027 is coming into focus after the House and Senate armed services committees advanced their versions of the bill earlier this month.
USCBC interviews Yi Fuxian, senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, on the factors behind China’s demographic decline, the impacts on its economy, and emerging commercial opportunities.
Exports from China are facing a new threat to their competitiveness: carbon border taxes. The EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism, which took effect in January, requires the bloc’s importers to pay for the carbon emissions of the goods they purchase. Similar legislation is set to take effect next year in the United Kingdom, and Canada, Japan, Australia, and South Korea all have carbon import taxes in the legislative pipeline.
Beijing is systematically executing its AI+ Action Plan across specific industries, with the energy sector its most recent focus. On May 8, four Chinese government agencies jointly issued the Action Plan for Promoting the Mutual Empowerment of AI and Energy, offering an early glimpse into how Beijing will operationalize its AI ambitions. In explicitly linking AI development and energy security, the document solidifies China’s strategy of embedding AI in existing industrial systems rather than treating AI as its own separate industry.
