Trump appointments show potential for U.S.-China relations
Apart from President-elect Donald Trump's promise to take a strong stance on goods imported from China, collaboration might be possible in some areas of technology.
As tensions between the U.S. and China continue, President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to implement a significant 60% tariff on Chinese goods. However, some believe he might maintain more even-keeled U.S.-China relations despite his remarks and could focus on areas of collaboration.
Trump has nominated David Perdue, a former U.S. senator (R-Ga.) who served on the Foreign Relations Committee, to serve as the U.S. ambassador to China during his incoming administration. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Perdue will be "instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain Peace in the region, and a productive working relationship with China's leaders." Trump also nominated Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to serve as U.S. secretary of state.
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said both nominees are "largely traditional conservatives," and the appointments make him cautiously optimistic about the U.S.'s relationship with China under Trump. Himes spoke during a panel discussion on U.S.-China relations hosted by the Brookings Institution.
"If that adds up to a fairly hawkish approach, but a skepticism of kinetic conflict, I think we'll be all right," he said.
However, Himes said the incoming Trump administration should be "very conscious" of supply lines for the critical minerals and rare-earth metals needed to build technologies that could pose a national security threat, such as semiconductors.
China retaliated earlier this week against new export restrictions adopted by the Biden administration, banning shipments of gallium and germanium to the U.S. Manufacturers use critical minerals and rare-earth metals like gallium and germanium to build vital technologies such as semiconductors and clean energy technologies such as solar panels. The retaliatory measures build on China's existing rare-earth metals restrictions.
Biden adds to chip restrictions
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security announced earlier this week additional rules to thwart China's ability "to produce advanced-node semiconductors that can be used in the next generation of advanced weapon systems and in artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing, which have significant military applications," according to a BIS news release.
The Chinese have done a lot to lock up a lot of supply, and that makes me nervous.
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes
The rules set new controls on 24 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, three types of software tools used to develop or produce semiconductors, and high-bandwidth memory. The rules also added 140 entities to the Entity List, which includes companies, organizations and individuals that are subject to export controls due to being a national security risk.
"The Chinese have done a lot to lock up a lot of supply, and that makes me nervous," Himes said.
To address critical mineral supply chain issues, he said, the incoming Trump administration needs to address permitting reform to allow more mines to be built in the U.S. Himes said those with environmental concerns need to "come to the table on permitting reform," which could lead to a discussion on offsetting climate issues through technologies such as carbon capture.
Potential collaboration on climate tech
With climate technologies and "climate-smart agriculture" in particular, there are "a lot of opportunities" for collaboration between the U.S. and China, said Caroline Smith DeWaal, a senior associate in the Global Food and Water Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). DeWaal was part of the Brookings Institution panel.
China is a leading developer of climate technologies like solar panels and carbon capture, which might be an area where U.S. and Chinese experts could work together, she said.
"Learning from each other on those types of technologies is urgently needed," DeWaal said.
For collaboration to happen, she said, the U.S. and Chinese governments must create safe pathways of communication.
However, some of the collaboration challenges include Trump's skepticism of climate technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels. Additionally, fears have grown in Congress about China's ownership of farmland in the U.S., said Caitlin Welsh, director of the Global Food and Water Security Program at CSIS and a panel speaker. Rubio, who was nominated to serve as secretary of state, cosponsored a bill in 2023 called the Protecting America's Agricultural Land From Foreign Harm Act.
"In large part, those fears are overblown, but that can be the basis of this reactionary opposition to potential collaboration," Welsh said.
Makenzie Holland is a senior news writer covering big tech and federal regulation. Prior to joining TechTarget Editorial, she was a general assignment reporter for the Wilmington StarNews and a crime and education reporter at the Wabash Plain Dealer.
