Key details on the agenda and deliverables for President Donald Trump’s trip to China early next month remain unclear as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer prepare to meet with China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng in Paris over Sunday and Monday.
Since reform and opening began nearly 50 years ago, China’s private sector has played an increasingly important role in the economy, accounting for 60 percent of GDP, 70 percent of innovative capacity, 80 percent of employment, and 90 percent of new jobs.
In a speech on Thursday at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen outlined a vision for the future of US-China economic relations, emphasizing the importance of collaboration while safeguarding US national security interests.
In a Brookings Institution discussion on Monday, Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh spoke about the importance of maintaining an economic relationship with China, a notable message considering the administration’s focus on competition and national security as of late.
This report explores the latest comprehensive data available for both US goods (2022) and services (2021) exports to China, as well as the American jobs (2021) they support.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen landed in New York Thursday, where she will be stopping briefly on her way to visit Central American allies. She plans to stop in Los Angeles on her way back to Taiwan next week. While little is known about Tsai’s itinerary while in the United States, the stopovers have drawn sharp criticism from Beijing, particularly, the prospect that she will meet with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) during the second leg of her trip.
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) plans to establish itself as a major influencer in debates on US-China relations on Capitol Hill. The committee has no legislative authority, meaning it will have to rely on other standing committees of jurisdiction to actually move bills.
At the National People’s Congress (NPC) meetings in early March, China unveiled a flurry of reforms to its financial system intended to increase financial stability amid growing debt risks. According to a report from National Institution for Finance and Development, China’s debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 273.2 in 2022, rising nearly 10 points from the previous year.
On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing to question TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on concerns that the app is too close to the CCP. The hearing comes on the heels of reports that after years of negotiations with TikTok’s parent company Bytedance, the Biden administration is demanding that ByteDance divest the app to a US owner or face a ban on operating in the United States.
