Experts Call For Greater US-Europe Cooperation to Curtail China Trade, Economy Control

During a House hearing on China’s influence in Europe, several experts said the U.S. needs to more strongly cooperate with Europe against Chinese trading practices and economic influences, including on export controls and information sharing.

Stephanie Segal, a deputy director for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy and the Environment on May 9 that Europe has recently increased its focus on export controls and export licensing of sensitive technology -- an area where the U.S. should collaborate. She advocated for “information sharing” between the U.S. and Europe and “coordination on possible listings of sensitive technology,” adding that “cooperation between the United States, Europe and other like-minded countries maximizes the chances for shaping China’s behavior and protecting U.S. interests.”

The lack of cooperation between Europe and the U.S. on trade and other controls has indirectly led to a growing relationship between Russia and China, said Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a director for the Center for a New American Security. She said China has become Russia’s “single most-important trading partner” and is the largest purchaser of Russian oil and gas. Meanwhile, she said, “Russia continues to sell China advanced military systems.”

Kendall-Taylor advocated for a “new deal with Europe,” one that will transform Europe into a “partner” to confront China on trade and the economy. “Washington will have to accept that greater European autonomy will inevitably transform the trans-Atlantic alliance,” she said. Kendall-Taylor said the administration has "rightly set out this vision of strategic competition, putting China front and center, but where we break down and fall apart is by not prioritizing Europe in that relationship.”

Zack Cooper, a research fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, said “many” countries are "accepting" Chinese “investment and infrastructure and technology” over U.S. objections. He partially blamed China’s expanded reach on the limited cooperation between the U.S. and Europe. Furthermore, he said, the U.S.’s policy strategy toward China -- including on trade -- is unclear to its allies and possibly to its own government. “There is still no agreement … on what kind of China strategy we should be pursuing,” Cooper said. “Although the U.S. has identified China as a strategic competitor, it has not yet adopted a clear set of objectives for this mission.”