Research & Analysis

USCBC interviews Mieke Eoyang, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, on US-China tech competition. She discusses the challenges posed by Washington’s divided tech policy toward China, why allied cooperation on export controls depends on more than policy alignment, and how AI is reshaping the assumptions behind import bans and cybersecurity strategy.

China continues to expand its retaliatory toolkit as geopolitical and trade tensions with the United States and, increasingly, the EU intensify. The tools vary in scope and severity, each with its own specific impacts on multinational companies operating in China. This primer covers the tools at China’s disposal to counter actions it perceives as inappropriate or unfair, starting with those most overtly retaliatory.

On May 11, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress and the State Council released their 2026 legislative plans, outlining lawmaking priorities for the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan period. This year, Beijing is moving to codify broad priorities, particularly in finance, economic security, market regulation, and technology governance.

The United States and China agreed to pursue “constructive strategic stability” during President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing last week, announcing purchase deals and plans for trade and investment boards. Both sides confirmed that President Xi Jinping would visit the White House in September.

Following the Trump-Xi summit, both countries addressed several agricultural concerns. However, tariffs and non-tariff barriers continue to hinder US agricultural exports. Furthermore, official readouts are not fully aligned; China kept its recounting vague on agricultural commitments.

USCBC interviews Jane Nakano, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’s Energy Security and Climate Change Program, on China’s energy landscape. Topics include impacts of the war in Iran, challenges in China’s decarbonization push, the role of energy in US-China tech competition, and areas for foreign participation.

China has seen a series of high-level personnel changes at both the central and provincial levels in recent months, driven by appointments made around the national and local Two Sessions as well as developments in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign.

Tension is building just a week before Trump’s high-stakes visit to China, and US officials are tempering expectations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday downplayed deliverables for the summit, set for May 14 to 15, noting only that the United States will “push forward the consensus” reached with China last year.

China remains an area of bipartisan interest and consensus on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers in the 118th Congress are expected to build off the momentum of the last congress, which introduced over 700 China-related bills, resolutions and amendments spanning a variety of issue areas, including trade and investment, national security, telecommunications, and human rights.

USCBC interviews Fraser Howie, co-author of three books on the Chinese financial system, on how China’s stock market has evolved over the past 25 years, factors behind country’s managed exchange rate, and efforts to internationalize the yuan.