Brookings' Patricia Kim Takes Stock of Trump's Second-Term China Policy

The podcast explores the Trump administration's China strategy, assessing its objectives—reindustrialization, AI leadership, supply chain de-risking, and restoring global standing—against tangible results. It questions whether tariffs, the administration's primary tool, genuinely support reindustrialization, noting manufacturing employment decline and investment hesitation due to policy volatility. The discussion highlights the tension between long-term industrial goals and short-notice policy changes, and the challenges of balancing commercial interests with technological leverage in AI. Patricia Kim, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, offers insights into China's deliberate approach to expanding influence while avoiding global leadership burdens, and the implications of diminished confidence among allies for achieving U.S. goals. The conversation concludes by examining potential scenarios for the U.S.-China relationship and expectations for upcoming summits.