As the Biden administration succeeded President Trump’s chaotic and undisciplined trade and investment policies toward China, the last six months of 2022 have seen significant developments in the US trade law and economic policy toward China. These legislative and regulatory developments bring into sharper focus a broader and more aggressive US legal and regulatory structure fostering industrial policy and confronting China. The recent midterm elections in the US and meeting in Bali between Xi and Biden only seem to maintain the current unsettling state of affairs. The subsequent WTO panel decision against the United States concerning its Section 232 national security tariffs and its rejection of national security defense only further complicates the US-China trade relations. The legislative and regulatory measures emanating from the US in the last half of 2022 are not helpful and represent a worrisome development. These measures are by far more aggressive, with significant domestic and global implications. They portend a new emerging post-WTO order.

The Biden administration has moved to refocus the US trade policy on China, acting to promote competition but not thoughtless confrontation. Some actions were strong right out of the gate; that should not have been so surprising, but it still was. If anything, the recently concluded G-7 meeting in Cornwall and the subsequent US-EU summit in Brussels indicate that the Biden administration intends to take a stronger and a more multilateral and diplomatic approach to confront China. This approach was further supported by the US allies at the recent NATO meeting in Brussels. The administration is stressing cooperation with allies and competition with China. Biden’s recent diplomacy demonstrates his overriding preoccupation with China. Moving away from Trump’s dysfunctional and disastrous unilateral measures of confrontation with all can only help stabilize the US-China relations and rebuild the WTO, hopefully.