TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew defended the company’s data security measures and autonomy from the CCP in a congressional hearing yesterday. The company is facing an ultimatum from the White House, and multiple voices in Congress are calling for an outright ban regardless of whether the app is divested from its Chinese parent, ByteDance. Read more
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department released a proposed ruling that would restrict beneficiaries of CHIPS, its domestic...
A US government report released Wednesday shows that US importers bore the brunt of the tariffs first imposed during the Trump administration. The report adds further research on the effect of Section 232 and 301 tariffs on the US economy. Read more
Last week, President Joe Biden unveiled his annual budget proposal for FY 2024. While the proposal would fund many of the administration's priorities in the Indo-Pacific, it is unlikely to gain traction in a divided...
A bill giving the administration the power to ban TikTok and other apps has gained support from the White House and key lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The RESTRICT Act is emerging as the strongest of several proposals related to TikTok. Read more
According to reports yesterday, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen will meet with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy on her way to visit allies in Latin America and the Caribbean. Earlier reports had suggested that McCarthy was planning...
The House Select Committee on the CCP’s inaugural hearing on Tuesday allowed its 24 members to outline their priorities. While there is bipartisan agreement to prioritize export controls, outbound investment, and Taiwan, the hearing revealed some differences in strategy between the committee’s Republican and Democratic members. Read more
The same day, the House Foreign Affairs Committee grilled Commerce Undersecretary for Industry and Security Alan Estevez on the effectiveness of the...
Three members of the Select Committee on the CCP have visited Taiwan in the last week, including Chair Mike Gallagher (R-WI). After his trip, Gallagher wrote an op-ed urging the United States to expedite its arms deliveries to the island. The select committee’s first hearing will take place on Tuesday. Read more
A tense exchange between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, over the weekend does not bode well for a reset in the bilateral...
The last week saw a flurry of executive and congressional action in response to the balloon incident. The United States sanctioned six Chinese aerospace and tech entities and the event has given more fuel to pre-existing congressional efforts on export controls and sanctions. Read more
On Wednesday, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman gave a speech on China in which she reiterated the administration’s China policy and spoke on the balloon. She did not offer any...
President Joe Biden touched on China during his State of the Union speech, but not enough according to some Republicans. US-China relations remain in flux after US forces shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon over the weekend. Read more
House committees held some of their first hearings this week, several of them revolving around China-related concerns. The financial services committee discussed outbound investment review, and other committees looked into TikTok, US military...
The last week saw two notable export control developments. First, the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan have reportedly reached a deal that would prevent China from importing advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment, but it remains to be seen just how strict the Dutch and Japanese restrictions will be. Second, the administration is considering whether to completely cut Huawei off from the US market after years of granting licenses for certain US firms to sell...
The House Selection Committee on China is slowly taking shape, and Chair Mike Gallagher expects the first panel to take place in March. The committee’s Republican membership was announced this week, but it remains to be seen which Democrats will be chosen. Read more
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul has been upping the pressure on Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and the Bureau of Industry and Security over their enforcement of US export controls on...
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Vice Premier Liu He met in Zurich on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. Both sides framed the meeting in positive terms, and Treasury hinted at Yellen visiting China in the near future. Read more
This week, Assistant US Trade Representative Terry McCartin led the US delegation to the first US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade negotiations in Taipei. According to the US readout, the group “reached consensus...
