What the Geopolitics of the EU-China Deal Means for Biden

On January 14th, ASPI Vice President Wendy Cutler joined Rhodium Group’s Noah Barkin for an episode of the Chicago Council for Global Affairs’ Deep Dish on Global Affairs podcast. Cutler discusses the economic and geopolitical consequences of the recently announced China-EU Investment Agreement (CAI) and how President-elect Biden can work towards building a coordinated trans-Atlantic strategy to counter China’s growing assertiveness.

For the new Biden Administration one of the biggest challenges, Cutler asserts, is that “the EU needs to be in a selling and promotional role in gaining approval [for the CAI] in Europe from the Parliament. As they promote the deal they will have to talk about how China is a good and trusted partner... but this runs counter to the narrative that the Biden administration will be seeking as it looks to work with Europe and other allies and partners and coordinating a China strategy.” 

As a result, Cutler emphasizes the importance of the U.S. and EU on opening dialogue on establishing a joint China strategy early on, “In the past, the Trump administration when working with partners has given them a black or white choice, either with or against us… the U.S. needs to be a lot more nuanced and Biden team will need to listen to where Europe is now on China and how Europe sees this new investment agreement as being in its interest and not precluding cooperation with the U.S.”

Listen to the podcast on Chicago Council for Global Affairs.