Should the United States Reduce Its Dependence on China for Strategic Materials and Medications?

Policy Matters

The Covid-19 pandemic has reignited the debate about our national dependence on Chinese raw materials and manufactured goods. Why should we be concerned about such dependence? What are our key areas of vulnerability? What policies should we introduce to address these vulnerabilities? And how is China likely to respond to these policies?

This episode’s guests are Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew Erickson. Collins is the Baker Botts Fellow in Energy & Environmental Regulatory Affairs at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Erickson is Professor of Strategy at the Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute. They have recently co-authored a Baker Institute report entitled “Economic Statecraft: Options for Reducing U.S. Overdependence on Chinese-supplied Materials and Medications.” It is available on the institute website.