FROM BUSINESS FRIENDS TO SECURITY FOES: U.S. TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER POLICIES TOWARDS CHINA, 2008-2022
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Authors
Little, Eric G.
Subjects
China
technology transfer
U.S. policy
trade war
espionage
national security
forced technology transfer
intellectual property rights
containment
Obama administration
Trump administration
Biden administration
technology transfer
U.S. policy
trade war
espionage
national security
forced technology transfer
intellectual property rights
containment
Obama administration
Trump administration
Biden administration
Advisors
Meyskens, Covell F.
Date of Issue
2022-12
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
This research project evaluated U.S. trade and technology transfer policies with China from 2008 to 2022. It sought to identify the major drivers of these policies as well as the causal mechanisms for major shifts in these policies through an analysis of relevant primary and secondary sources. This thesis revealed that U.S. trade and technology transfer policies transitioned away from being primarily driven by free and open trade with China to being guided by U.S. economic competition and national security concerns. This transition was gradually and continuously amplified over time due to China’s unfair business tactics and illicit technology acquisitions from the U.S. As China continued to modernize, bolster its regional influence, strengthen its military, and propel its economy, the U.S. increasingly discovered China obtained key U.S. technologies and trade secrets through both open and surreptitious means. The U.S. simultaneously felt that it was losing its regional influence in the Indo-Pacific as China’s was increasing. Thus, the U.S. hardened its trade and technology transfer policies with China to preserve key U.S. technologies, maintain its regional influence, and slow China’s economic, military, and regional influence rise. Economic competition and national security became mutually reinforcing drivers of U.S. technology transfer and trade policies to the point that the veil separating the two became negligible.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
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NPS Report Number
Sponsors
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Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.