2025 was the year “everything changed” for the United States and China, according to a recent story in Vox: “The biggest U.S. national security story of 2025 may turn out to be one in which not a single shot was fired: This was the year that the U.S. tried to declare economic war on China, and China fought back.” 

Will the United States and China continue to escalate their economic war in 2026? And will that rivalry lead to even greater geopolitical tension? We’ll check in with two experts with high-level China policy experience from both sides of the political aisle, Randy Schriver and Mike Kuiken. Schriver served as assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs during the first Trump administration, while Kuiken was Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's national security advisor, the Senate's most senior national security staff role. Both now serve on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which provides annual policy recommendations to Congress. 

In its 2025 report, the commission urges lawmakers to prepare for the “global China challenge.” It warns that the country poses an increasing national security threat, as it ramps up preparations for military conflict, deepens ties with Russia and Iran, and dramatically expands space capabilities. “We should be clear-eyed about the fact that Beijing is rapidly advancing its capabilities for a potential conflict,” Schriver said in a statement before the report’s release. 

Among its recommendations, the commission asks Congress to take steps to protect the U.S. supply chain from over-reliance on Chinese inputs in areas such as pharmaceuticals, AI and semiconductors. It also calls for greater safeguards to prevent Chinese cyberattacks on the U.S. power grid. We'll explore these recommendations with Kuiken and Schriver and draw on their decades of experience navigating national security policy at the highest levels of government.