CHARLESTON — Frost Brown Todd Charleston Partner-in-Charge Carte Goodwin participated in a recent annual report detailing national security implications in trade and economics with the U.S. and China.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission's 2023 report was presented to Congress last month.
Goodwin, a former U.S. senator who has been a commissioner for the organization since 2011, participated in the event.
Goodwin said the commission was formed to advise Congress on the national security implications of the trade and economic relationship between the United States and China. He said the 2023 Annual Report delves into the broader strategic trends of that relationship, including the Chinese Communist Party’s increasing efforts to challenge the rules-based international order and replace it with institutions and norms modeled after their own system.
"The U.S. must continue working to build resilience against the CCP’s distortive practices and the risks they pose to global supply chains, international security, and the rule of law," Goodwin said in an interview with The West Virginia Record.
Goodwin said the commission is a bipartisan advisory body with members appointed by the four leaders of Congress.
"Working to produce a report that reflects a broad, bipartisan consensus always has been a hallmark of the Commission’s work," Goodwin said. "As in previous years, we were able to do that in 2023, with all 12 members voting unanimously to approve the report."
Goodwin said that given his legal background, he was especially concerned by the CCP’s efforts to undermine the rule of law with their own authoritarian-influenced “rule by law” model, where the law is viewed simply as another tool of the CCP to accomplish their strategic and political objectives.
"The CCP wants to align international law and international legal institutions with its own illiberal model, while also exploiting the openness of independent judicial systems like ours to evade responsibility or to harass political dissidents," Goodwin said.
Goodwin said the commission’s website hosts a number of other research products in addition to the annual report, including a staff research report on the CCP-controlled China International Commercial Court that China is trying to make into its in-house “one-stop shop” dispute resolution center to resolve Belt and Road Initiative-related commercial issues in its favor.
The report examined the national security ramifications arising from the bilateral trade and economic connections between the U.S. and China.
It provided several recommendations to Congress, encompassing suggested policy modifications to counter China's endeavors to surpass the United States in warfare capabilities.
The report also incorporated insights derived from a hearing earlier this year, titled “Rule by Law: China’s Increasingly Global Legal Reach,” co-chaired by Goodwin.
The hearing delved into the Chinese Communist Party’s aspirations to propagate its interpretation of international law, along with the challenges faced by U.S. courts in deciphering Chinese law and evaluating the Chinese legal system.
Goodwin served as a U.S. senator, having been appointed in 2010 by then-West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin to fill the vacancy caused by the passing of Sen. Robert C. Byrd. He works as part of Frost Brown Todd's Charleston office, as well as its Washington, D.C. office.
