Recognizing China’s rapid rise, successive American administrations—Republican and Democratic alike—have fundamentally reoriented U.S. national security strategy. Although they have differed in tactics, they have shared the same underlying conclusion: China is the only nation with the economic, technological, industrial and military capacity to challenge American leadership across the full spectrum of national power.

This bipartisan assessment has been reflected in official U.S. strategy documents, defence planning and economic policy. The U.S. Department of Defense consistently describes the People’s Republic of China as America’s “pacing challenge,” meaning it is the only competitor capable of reshaping the international order while simultaneously modernizing its military, expanding technological capabilities and increasing global influence.

The Department’s 2025 Pacific Deterrence Initiative requested nearly US$10 billion to strengthen American military posture, missile defence, logistics, infrastructure and alliances throughout the Indo-Pacific region, reflecting Washington’s strategic focus on maintaining regional balance. The Pentagon’s annual reports also emphasize China’s rapid military modernization, including advances in naval power, missile systems, cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence and space technologies.

Military competition, however, represents only one dimension of the broader strategic rivalry.Unlike the Cold War, today’s competition extends deeply into economics, trade, finance, technology and industrial supply chains.

Beginning in 2018, the United States introduced sweeping tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese imports under Section 301 of the Trade Act. These measures sought to address concerns relating to intellectual property, industrial subsidies, technology transfer and broader trade imbalances.

The tariffs continued under subsequent administrations, although implementation evolved through negotiations, exemptions and targeted modifications. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), these policies encouraged some diversification of supply chains and supported certain domestic industries. Imports shifted toward countries such as Vietnam, Mexico and India in selected sectors.

However, the broader objective of substantially reducing China’s industrial and technological competitiveness has proven considerably more difficult. China remains the world’s largest manufacturing nation, one of the world’s largest exporters and a dominant supplier of countless........

© Pakistan Observer