Why are EU-China Trade Relations Tense?
The US-China Podcast
Trade between the EU and China account for almost , but the balance and structure of their trade relationship has changed in recent years. As China’s , the goods it sent to Europe started competing with products already manufactured in Europe, creating tension. However, it's and change its economic relationship with China since individual European nations feel trade frictions differently and economic relations with the United States are also under pressure. How will the EU move forward with China and the United States? Agatha Kratz joined us on August 20, 2026 to share how...
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As the U.S. Steps Back, China Steps Up: Inside China's Global Climate Strategy
The US-China Podcast
In Chinese Global Environmentalism, Alex L. Wang examines China’s embrace of green development on the global stage. He traces Chinese global environmentalism’s evolution and motivations and analyzes its deployment through the governance tools of green ideology, diplomacy, economic statecraft, and international development cooperation. He conceives of Chinese global environmentalism as a wide-ranging economic and political strategy used to unsettle traditional views of China and bolster the legitimacy of Chinese power at home and abroad. The author argues that Chinese global...
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Open Source or Controlled Access? The New U.S.-China AI Divide
The US-China Podcast
On June 12, 2026, the U.S. government placed Anthropic’s two most capable models under export controls, the first time a frontier AI model itself, rather than the chips beneath, it was treated as a controlled item. While the controls were later removed, it presented a new source of uncertainty for closed models coming out of American frontier labs. At almost exactly the same time, Chinese firms, specifically Z.ai and Moonshot, released several highly capable open-source models, which sharpened a core tension in U.S. strategy: promoting open diffusion to extend American influence while...
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Competing for Soft Power: China’s Image-Making in Africa
The US-China Podcast
With a growing young population, vast natural resources, and emerging technology hubs, countries across Africa have become key sites for diplomatic competition between the United States and China. Focusing on Ethiopia, Maria Repnikova examines the ambitious and disjointed display of Chinese diplomatic influence in Africa, developing a new theoretical approach to understanding China's practice of soft power, identifying the core mechanisms as tangible enticement with material and experiential offerings, promotion of values, visions, and governance practices, and censorial power over the...
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Americans Are Changing Their Minds About China — Here’s Why
The US-China Podcast
In an interview conducted on May 4, 2026, Laura Silver joins Steve Orlins to discuss the data on how American perceptions of China have changed over the past year. Americans’ views toward China are changing, according to a recent Pew Research Center report published this April: today, 27 percent of Americans have a positive opinion of China, up six percentage points from last year and nearly double the share from 2023. Amid several notable findings in the survey, some of the most striking are: Confidence in Chinese President Xi Jinping to do the right thing regarding world...
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Why China Controls Critical Minerals and the U.S. Wants to Change That
The US-China Podcast
Why does the United States rely on China for critical minerals and what are the economic and security implications of this interdependence? From fighter jets to fridges, , shaping the global economy and our daily lives. Today, China dominates many points along critical mineral , such as mining and refining, following decades of . After years of relying on Chinese companies for these vital inputs, the United States has grown uncomfortable with its dependence on China for critical minerals. This economic chokehold became evident when Washington and on China, causing...
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Rebounding Profits, Rising Risk: The State of American Business in China
The US-China Podcast
U.S. companies in China are navigating a widening gap between opportunity and risk. Even as profitability rebounds and China remains critical to companies’ global competitiveness, escalating tariffs, tightening export controls, and a fragile trade truce are forcing American businesses to rethink how —and whether— they operate there. In this conversation on August 3, National Committee President Steve Orlins interviews Sean Stein, president of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), about USCBC's recently released 2026 Member Survey of 175 American companies doing business in China....
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Same Words, Different Meaning: The New U.S.-China Paradigm
The US-China Podcast
Following the Trump–Xi meeting in mid-May, officials in both the United States and China started describing bilateral ties as “” However, both countries have different views of what this term means and its implications for U.S.-China relations. While the United States does not see a large difference between “strategic stability” and its other recent , China views this new term as an acknowledgement of its . Is the U.S.-China relationship entering a new phase or is this simply a new...
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What is China doing in the Arctic?
The US-China Podcast
Countries across the globe are increasingly focused on the Arctic due to its expanding shipping routes, vast natural resources, and cutting-edge scientific research opportunities. China views as a critical new frontier for its economic and geostrategic opportunities. Since China isn’t geographically located in the Arctic, it must work with other nations, like , to achieve its aims in the region. However, Chinese engagement in the Arctic has been met with skepticism,...
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Who the U.S.-China AI Competition Leaves Behind
The US-China Podcast
As become increasingly sophisticated, the United States and China are vying to win this technology competition. Both countries have in their development, deployment, and – the United States is recognized as leading in advanced AI development and China in industrial AI integration. Although perceptions of AI differ between people, companies, and the government in the United States and China, a exists among both populations over the effects this technology will have...
info_outlineCountries across the globe are increasingly focused on the Arctic due to its expanding shipping routes, vast natural resources, and cutting-edge scientific research opportunities. China views the Arctic as a critical new frontier for its economic and geostrategic opportunities. Since China isn’t geographically located in the Arctic, it must work with other nations, like Russia, to achieve its aims in the region. However, Chinese engagement in the Arctic has been met with skepticism, especially from the United States and European nations weary of China’s relationship with Russia and the impact of China’s economic activity on their own industries.
Elizabeth Wishnick joined us on June 6, 2026 to discuss China’s economic and security interests in the Arctic and China’s reception in the region.
Click here to read the speaker's bio and watch the YouTube video.