The U.S. Response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

Since the Trump administration, an important part of U.S. policy of containing China has been its response to the Belt and Road initiative. The article reveals the American perspective on the main challenges that the Chinese initiative poses and characterizes Washington’s response. Washington’s actions included, but were not limited to, reorganizing U.S. development agencies to create a strong and flexible institutional framework for foreign infrastructure financing, supporting American businesses as they enter global markets, consolidating the efforts of like-minded countries to create an alternative to the Belt and Road (e.g. the “Build Back a Better World” initiative, which transformed into the Global Investment and Infrastructure Partnership), and the promotion of economic corridor projects.