Trade tensions and economic coercion: What is next for the US-China-Australia relationship?

While the United States and China have been engaged in a trade war for the past several years, recent actions by Beijing seem to have thrust Australia into one as well. With Australian barley, beef, iron ore and higher education all being threatened, the threat is no longer theoretical. Australia is not alone in facing coercive economic pressure from China, but the suddenness and intensity of Beijing’s recent actions have caught many by surprise. Understanding the pattern of Chinese behaviour around the world, and the tools which are effective in responding, will be critical as Australia charts its course forward.

 

To discuss these issues, please join us for a webinar event featuring the authors of A New Arsenal for Competition – Elizabeth Rosenberg, Peter Harrell and Ashley Feng of the Center for a New American Security – along with John Lee and Charles Edel of the United States Studies Centre.

 

Elizabeth Rosenberg is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. In this capacity, she publishes and speaks on the national security and foreign policy implications of the use of sanctions and economic statecraft as well as energy market shifts. From May 2009 through September 2013, Ms Rosenberg served as senior advisor at the US Department of Treasury, to the Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, and then to the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

 

Peter Harrell is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, where he focuses on the intersection of economics and national security. From 2012-2014, Mr Harrell served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counter Threat Finance and Sanctions in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. In that role, Harrell was instrumental in developing the international sanctions against Iran, Russia and Syria and in the easing of sanctions against Myanmar.

 

Ashley Feng is a Research Associate for the Energy, Economics and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. Her research focus includes US-China trade relations, China’s economic policies and China’s global economic footprint. Her work and commentary have appeared in NPR, CNBC, Foreign Policy, Fortune, Scientific American and The National Interest.

 

Dr John Lee is a Senior Fellow (non-resident) at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a Senior Fellow (non-resident) at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC. From 2016-2018, he was senior adviser to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

 

Dr Charles Edel is a Senior Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Prior to this appointment, he was Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy at the US Naval War College, and served on the US Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff from 2015-2017. He is the co-author of The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order (2019).