Ep. 44: Walking the Tightrope: China Summit Fallout, a Board of Trade, and What’s “Sensitive”?

Following the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, trade officials are still searching for substance beneath the strategic ambiguity. This week, our panel unpacked what the proposed “Board of Trade” with China could actually mean. Does it signal genuine cooperation, managed trade, or simply another mechanism for managing the US-China relationship? While both sides appear willing to keep talking, panelists questioned whether any meaningful tariff reductions or concrete deliverables are realistically on the horizon.The discussion also explored the growing tension between economic security, industrial policy, and geopolitical competition. Panelists debated how new Section 301 and 232 actions against China fit alongside efforts to carve out “non-sensitive” areas for cooperation, while allies and trading partners from Southeast Asia to Europe navigate the fallout from shifting U.S.-China trade dynamics.Featured Speakers:Introduction: Kenneth Levinson, CEO, WITA – The International Trade AssociationEd Gresser, Vice President & Director for Trade & Global Markets, Progressive Policy Institute; former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Trade Policy and Economics - author of the Trade Fact of the WeekKellie Meiman Hock, Senior Counselor, McLarty Associates; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University; Board Member, Inter-American Dialogue; former Director of Brazil and the Southern Cone, Office of the United States Trade RepresentativeSara Schuman, Managing Director and International Trade Practice Lead, Beacon Global Strategies; She was the Senior Trade Representative for China at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and also served as the Minister Counselor for Trade Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing during the first Trump and Biden Administrations.Moderator: Joe Damond, Non-resident Senior Associate at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in their Southeast Asia program; former Deputy Assistant USTR for Asia