Sharpening Policies to Deter China

The U.S. is abdicating its role as a geopolitical leader, allowing China to build relationships, technology, and infrastructure that are rapidly expanding and solidifying China’s diplomatic influence and economic power tenfold. From its withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and review of its participation in the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to its reduction of engagement in a variety of international events to include the November 2025 G20 Summit, America continues its current path of international isolationism to its own detriment.

These examples illustrate the point: export restrictions and limitations alone will not properly slow China’s rise or protect America’s positioning in the areas of AI and telecommunications. The world’s future technology must be built with American tools and with American standards firmly in mind.

And U.S. policy can no longer wildly swing between viewing China as either economic “frenemy” or an existential threat. The Biden administration viewed China as the U.S.'s most capable and dominant competitor believing that sanctions and export controls combined with the strengthening of international partnerships. The Trump Administration moves back and forth in their approaches between strengthening economic ties with their government to expanding the ongoing tariff war while simultaneously realizing the economic realities post hoc. The long-term effects of this strategy are to be determined. All of this takes place in the shadow of continued physical and diplomatic tensions over the critical mineral supply chain.

Instead, the U.S. must see clearly that China can be a rational geopolitical actor creating a spectrum of challenges, from intellectual property theft across myriad industries to human rights abuses; supporting authoritarian regimes and attempting to control the global critical mineral supply. As China continues to throttle global access to its monopoly of processed rare earth minerals, the United States must stand up partnerships globally, particularly on the African continent, to secure mineral access. As Laura Kupe, Visiting Fellow at New American recently noted, seventy percent of the global supply of cobalt alone –  an element ubiquitous in the rechargeable batteries that support vehicles, laptops, and a host of smart devices - comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo that wishes to have grander negotiating position on the global stage given its resources. Mining cobalt and its subsequent processing, like many other rare earth elements, isn’t without risk and reward, but to have a deeper discussion on those realities, America will need to be standing partnerships not based on personality and mercurial decision-making. African nation relations alongside ongoing supply chain diversification efforts, notably frameworks with Japan and Australia, serve as key pillars to this approach. Working closely with industry partners and relying on seasoned diplomats and career officials with regional expertise will be key in solidified plans to build the infrastructure and security cooperation agreements necessary for a stronger supply chain.

Finally, America must look to its domestic programs centered on creating a healthy, highly skilled technological workforce here in the U.S., rather than continuing to naval gaze at the issue. This means real investments in education that supports creativity and innovative thinking. It means better upskilling, recruitment, and retention practices focused on keeping talent in-house and investing in it. It also means proper childcare and support for households with working parents so there are fewer stressors, frustrations, and distractions created financial concerns. Happier workers means great productivity, efficiencies, stable work environments and fewer costly issues. Lastly, it means acknowledging that as we find new emerging tools that create efficiencies in business practices, we must look for new opportunities to utilize talented professionals in the workforce rather than cutting jobs and leaving individuals without resources. We’re diluting and eroding our current and future workforce needed to win this fight. Otherwise, we will continue to see tech firms outsourcing jobs to India and other countries with the prerequisite workforce skill sets as China continues its technological rise forward.

It also means supporting domestic innovation by channeling public and private investment into emerging technologies and infrastructure, ensuring that these U.S. workers have the resources to drive global tech development on our terms and with our products. As one American tech leader put it plainly, “It's vital that America wins by racing ahead and winning developers worldwide."

Finally, our leaders must acknowledge that there is a limited opportunity for Washington to correct past mistakes and pursue policies that will enable strategic, controlled proliferation of American technology to China and global markets. It's unclear how long the world's two largest economies can continue exchanging economic volleys, but it's in the best interest of both countries and the global economy to find some level of resonance in this system.

Without these actions, China is going to win the AI war and grow its influence undeterred, at the expense of America’s global leadership and national security. With China's economy experiencing its own difficulties, the opportunity exists for the U.S. government to stabilize trade, claim true superiority in the emerging technology industry, and increase its influence and protection of its critical mineral supply chain. However, it will take political will and a holistic strategy to achieve these goals. For America’s sake, we cannot allow that to happen. A new way forward will change that outcome.

Bishop Garrison is a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the National Security Institute, George Mason Law School.