HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
SUBCOMMITTEE ROUNDTABLE
For questions on the note below, please contact the Delta Strategy Group team.
On July 14, the House Committee on Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs held a roundtable entitled “Winning the Economic Competition with China: Working Families, the AI Race, and Energy.” Participants in the roundtable were:
- Joshua Hodges, Commissioner, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission
- Piero Tozi, Senior Director for China Policy, America First Policy Institute
- Dr. Glenn Tiffert, Distinguished Research Fellow, Hoover Institution
- Alex Epstein, Philosopher and Energy Expert
Below are several key takeaways from the roundtable prepared by Delta Strategy Group.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Members and witnesses characterized China’s economic strategy as a coordinated effort to dominate critical technologies, manufacturing, energy infrastructure, critical minerals, and global supply chains.
- Tozi described China as a “predatory mercantilist power” seeking to “win without fighting.” Discussions outlined that Beijing uses industrial policy, state-backed investment, influence operations, and control over strategic resources to create leverage over the U.S.
- Witnesses agreed that the U.S. cannot withdraw from the artificial intelligence race despite concerns about accuracy, misinformation, and societal risks. They warned that allowing Chinese systems, including DeepSeek, to become dominant globally would present a greater strategic threat than developing AI domestically.
- Multiple witnesses credited H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with strengthening U.S. competitiveness. Commissioner Hodges called it timely for U.S. supply chains, Dr. Tiffert said using it to unlock the U.S. energy economy is vital, and Representative Burlison (R-MO) argued it closed Inflation Reduction Act tax credits China had exploited.
- Permitting reform and expanded reliable energy generation were repeatedly presented as central to U.S. economic security. Epstein raised that current permitting requirements constrain mining, refining, manufacturing, data center construction, and energy infrastructure, while China benefits from greater industrial freedom and continued reliance on dispatchable power such as coal.
- Participants warned that China uses influence campaigns, strategic-resource dominance, and control of critical infrastructure to advance its global position while also facing vulnerabilities tied to its centralized economic model and questionable official data.