Washington Update

On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), accompanied by 12 Democratic committee chairs, announced plans for a Senate legislative package focused on China. Schumer urged his committee chairs to work with their Republican counterparts to draft bipartisan legislation that can be combined into a larger bill modeled after the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which was passed last Congress.

In a speech Thursday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan outlined the Biden administration’s new industrial strategy for the United States. The strategy aims to leverage massive public investment to rebuild US manufacturing, reduce inequality, and reduce supply chain dependence on China.

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.

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.

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.

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) released a congressionally-mandated report on the efficacy of Section 232 and 301 tariffs. It concluded that despite claims from the Trump administration, it is US importers, not Chinese, who have paid nearly the full cost of the tariffs.

On Wednesday, Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner (D-VA) and Republican Senate Whip John Thune (R-SD) introduced the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology (RESTRICT) Act, which would pave the way for TikTok to be banned in the United States.

During primetime on Tuesday, the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the CCP held its first hearing, “The Chinese Communist Party’s Threat to America.” Two former US national security advisors, a human rights advocate, and a leader in the US manufacturing sector testified.