In a sub-forum titled “The Future of US-China Relations” of World Strategic Forum 2021, USCBC President Craig Allen offered remarks about the current state of trade and investment between the US and China, and provided a look ahead by commenting on US Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s recent remark on China trade strategy.
Seeing the Biden administration’s approach an almost complete continuation from the previous administration, Allen raised concerns on the targeted exclusion process relating to Section 301 tariffs that Tai emphasized in her speech, noting that it risks being too narrow than what the business communities have been advocating for. He said that “there is no pathway forward that has been indicated by the USTR whether the Biden administration will get rid of the tariffs” and tremendous uncertainties remain in the future of US-China trade relations. With the hope for more proactive and sustained dialogues and engagement between the two governments, Allen expressed that the Chinese side has a very important role to play and encouraged the better angels of both sides to come together and explore more collaborative reciprocities.
Also in the panel was Donald Morrissey, Vice President of Government Affairs at Huawei Technologies USA, who highlighted that, although technology is at the forefront of US-China strategic competition, the two countries will benefit more from cooperating than decoupling, particularly when it comes to standard-setting for data privacy and cybersecurity. By focusing on what’s important in the industry and for the consumers, the US and China can push forward where the privacy concerns are most evident, agree on standards for products across the board, and compete on a higher assurance level globally.