Trade Barriers
Explore RAND’s Work on this Topic
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Expert Insights
Mar 18, 2026
Proposing New Metrics for Economic Security Policy: A Worker Return-on-Investment Scorecard
This paper offers a new way to study how tools of economic statecraft — such as sanctions and export controls — affect U.S. workers. The proposed scorecard would help policymakers ensure that workers are not sidelined in economic security decisions.
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Commentary
Aug 15, 2025
America Should Rent, Not Sell, AI Chips to China
Selling AI chips to China outright reduces America's AI lead for little benefit. Rather than exporting world-class AI chips, the United States could rent them out.
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Commentary
Aug 7, 2025
Russia's Use of Crypto Schemes
Russia is increasingly reliant on cryptocurrency to sustain international trade and circumvent sanctions. Western allies should understand, map, and develop appropriate countermeasures to the crypto schemes that allow Russia to hide its trading activity and fund its hostile activities abroad.
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Commentary
Feb 24, 2025
What DeepSeek Means for AI Competition: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning
While current U.S. policies have not succeeded in stopping Chinese AI firms from being peer competitors with American firms, the competition for AI is far from over. There are some lessons that can be learned that may help shape U.S. policy and advance U.S. interests in AI competition with China.
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Research
Feb 20, 2025
Examining the Feasibility of an East-West Economic Corridor for South and Central Asia: Views from India and Pakistan
The authors, after analyzing literature and interviews with policy experts from India and Pakistan, discuss the feasibility of a land-based East-West Economic Corridor connecting Afghanistan, India, Iran, Pakistan, and the Central Asian republics.
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Commentary
Jan 28, 2025
The Rise of DeepSeek: What the Headlines Miss
While DeepSeek's AI achievements deserve recognition and carry policy implications, the story of compute access, export controls, and AI development is more complex than many reports suggest. Here are some key points that deserve more attention.
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Research
Oct 22, 2024
The Effectiveness of U.S. Economic Policies Regarding China Pursued from 2017 to 2024
Despite fluctuations, U.S.-China trade tensions have been high since 2017. In this report, the authors assess recent U.S. economic policy toward China and recommend adjustments to help defend U.S. economic interests and boost fair trade practices.
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Commentary
Mar 7, 2023
Consequences of the War in Ukraine: The Economic Fallout
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, projections estimated global economic growth in 2022 would be around 5 percent. But the war in Ukraine contributed to slowed economic growth in 2022 and a slowed recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. What are the broader consequences for the global economy?
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Commentary
Nov 28, 2022
Export Controls Give ASML and the Netherlands an Opportunity to Lead by Example. Will They Take It?
Dutch tech company ASML makes the complex machines required to construct advanced microchips, and it sells many of these machines to China. Harmonization of export controls between the United States and the Netherlands could limit China's development of military technologies and its human rights abuses.
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Commentary
Nov 22, 2022
Russian Aircraft Keep Crashing. Could Sanctions Be the Cause?
At least six fixed-wing Russian aircraft have crashed over Russian-controlled airspace since September. Sanctions placed on Russia by the West could well be affecting Russia's ability to manufacture and maintain parts needed to keep aircraft safe.
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Commentary
Oct 20, 2022
Russia's Su-35: Are Its Military Aircraft Exports Headed for a Fall?
Squeezed by sanctions and pressed to replace equipment destroyed in Ukraine, Russia's aerospace sector isn't likely to have combat aircraft to sell, even if it wants to. If purchasing countries start to change their minds and invest in drones and other less-expensive precision guided munitions, the market for Russian combat aircraft might start to rapidly decline.
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Commentary
Jun 15, 2022
Unblocking the Black Sea for Ukrainian Grain
As Russia has been blockading ports around Odesa, Ukrainian grain exports in May were more than 60 percent lower than a year ago. Global hunger has hit a new high while 22 million tons of grain in Ukraine could rot if not exported soon.
