Former US ambassador Nicholas Burns highlighted that the US and China, as the top two global carbon emitters and economies, hold pivotal influence over the international system and climate initiatives. Their relationship is marked by competition and conflict across military, technology, trade, and values domains, presenting challenges for cooperation.
In the energy sector, China's dominant processing of rare earth elements essential for lithium batteries and solar panels creates dependencies that can be impacted by trade tensions, including significant tariffs imposed by both nations and other global players during 2024 and 2025, complicating supply chains pivotal to clean energy technologies.
Source & further reading
Sustaining diplomacy amid competition in US-China relations ↗Source published 2026-03-18. This report was prepared with AI assistance from the linked primary-source material. Claims and limitations should be checked against the original announcement or research.