The relationship between the U.S. and China is under renewed pressure. Understanding the potential implications for trade, business, and scientific collaboration will be increasingly important in the coming months and years.

Join us on Thursday, January 23, to hear from Robert Kapp, former President of the US-China Business Council, and Rao Talasila, Head of Machine Learning for Wayfinder Biosciences. Kapp and Talasila will share insights and analysis from the recent Future of U.S. and China Conference held in San Francisco on January 16, 2025. Questions they may cover include: How will proposed tariffs impact trade with China and the rest of the world? How will U.S. businesses respond? Are there implications for the Science and Technology Agreement?  
 
This program is the last event in our Seeking Truth Through Facts U.S.-China Program Series, which focuses on new strategic frameworks for the bilateral relationship, plurilateral relationships, rebalancing trade, national security, technology, and climate change; as well as the global impact of the political and economic landscape. Check out our series and conference recaps from the last five years here.

This program is private, off-the-record, complimentary for Asia Society Seattle members, and not open to the press. Lunch will be served. Registration and confirmation of registration is required. Event location in downtown Seattle will be emailed to registered attendees 24 hours before the event.

Virtual access is available for Asia Society Northern California members. Zoom link for virtual access will be provided 24 hours before the event.

If you are interested in joining the event, sign up to become a member here. Any inquiries can be directed to:  [email protected].

Agenda

Date: Thursday, January 23, 2025, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Pacific  

• 11:00 a.m.     Event Registration and Networking (lunch will be served)
• 11:30 a.m.     Event and Q&A Discussion (ASNC Zoom Livestream Starts)
• 12:45 p.m.     Networking (ASNC Livestream Ends)
• 1:00 p.m.       Event Concludes

Location in downtown Seattle will be emailed to registered attendees 24 hours before the event.

Zoom link for virtual access will be provided 24 hours before the event. 

Speakers

Dr. Robert A. Kapp is former President of The US-China Business Council and Robert A. Kapp & Associates, a private consulting firm.  His firm provided consulting services to companies and nonprofit organizations seeking to develop successful activities with China or to engage with policy makers in the field of U.S.-China relations. Dr. Kapp is Special Advisor, Planning and Publication, for the US-China Education Trust, (Washington, D.C.) a nonprofit, non-governmental organization conducting extensive bilateral cooperative programs in education and Sino-American communication.

Dr. Kapp serves on the Board of The Blakemore Foundation, Seattle, Washington.  The Foundation awards generous grants to Americans pursuing advanced study of Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian languages.

Rao Talasila is the Head of Machine Learning for Wayfinder Biosciences. Rao is a technology leader with executive and engineering experience at Fortune 500 companies such as Cisco & IBM in addition to startups in Seattle & Silicon Valley. His working and living experience span India, US and China.

Currently Rao works as the Head of Machine Learning at Wayfinder Biosciences, a ML-driven drug discovery company in Seattle developing small molecule therapeutics targeting RNA. Previously he worked at Xnor.ai, which was acquired by Apple.