Last week saw the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. It was dominated by trade and investment.

Ahead of the summit we spoke to Matt Turpin, who was director for China in the White House National Security Council during Trump’s first term.

Matt, a former Army officer and now a senior advisor at Palantir Technologies and visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, talked about what to expect from the visit but, more importantly, provided his perspective on the underlying shifts in the US-China economic relationship and the long-term trends that will dominate international trade for the years to come.

Washington’s move away from pushing Beijing to adhere to fair and rules-based trade, towards what’s known as “managed trade”, is exemplified by a proposal for a Board of Trade which Matt explains. He lays out a way forward for rule-abiding countries to trade with one another while diversifying away from China.

Matt discusses the debate about whether to decouple or derisk and explains his idea of disentanglement between the US and China for sensitive materials and technologies. This interview is a must-listen for anyone interested in economic security, global trade and the impact of great power competition on all nations.

Check out Matt’s Substack at https://chinaarticles.substack.com/