Confronting China’s Commercial Malign Influence in Africa The Trump Administration’s “trade, not aid” Africa strategy confronts China’s influence by empowering U.S. businesses and promoting fair, rules-based economic partnerships. By Peter Mihalick
https://amgreatness.com/2025/06/22/confronting-chinas-commercial-malign-influence-in-africa/
In another welcome sign of the Trump Administration’s focused prioritization of American interests in foreign policy, the State Department’s Senior Bureau Official for African Affairs recently rolled out a clear-eyed approach to U.S. engagement in Africa. As part of a long-overdue restructuring of the State Department, the Trump Administration articulated a directive to U.S. diplomats that puts enhanced trade and commercial diplomacy at the forefront of advancing U.S. interests, with the American private sector squarely in the lead as the engine of mutual prosperity and expansive growth. As highlighted throughout a hearing by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently, threats from Chinese activities across Africa, especially commercial activities, directly undermine U.S. interests across the continent.
Subcommittee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) laid out the challenge directly, calling China “the most significant long-term strategic threat to the United States” and highlighting that throughout Africa, “China is exercising its military, economic, and political power and advancing its authoritarian agenda, all while undermining the sovereignty of African nations and the strategic interests of the United States.” To help confront this harmful influence directly, the Trump Administration’s updated strategy prioritizes the need to reduce barriers to entry for U.S. companies and level the playing field for American businesses. Fair, clear, and equal rules of doing business, coupled with strengthened institutions and the rule of law to uphold those standards, are the opportunity the private sector seeks as it evaluates prospective markets. Coupled with broader Trump Administration reforms at trade promotion and enhanced prioritization ensuring American competitiveness in Africa, this strategic focus on “trade, not aid” is what both our African partners and the American people want.
The success of this strategy goes beyond the ongoing reorganization and strategic restructuring of the state. As Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) noted during another recent hearing focused on issues in East Africa, “There are countries where meaningful engagement is possible—but only with sober judgment and clear-eyed realism. We must stop building U.S. policy in Africa around individual leaders and instead focus on strengthening institutions, expanding private sector ties, and empowering the region’s young and dynamic populations.” That clear focus requires careful analysis of the various ways China’s coercive activities have been successful in the past to help inform what is needed to expand commercial relationships in Africa.
Today, China’s operations in Africa are financed by state-backed banks supported by the Chinese government. The use of shell companies to mask Chinese controlling interests is commonplace. In particular, China is heavily involved in mineral and fossil fuel extraction, including critical minerals, which in turn have accelerated China’s controlling position in mineral processing and critical mineral supply chains. The impact of such behavior is well known; in 2021, then-Senator Marco Rubio introduced legislation highlighting that the “Chinese Communist Party employs a wide range of political, informational, and economic measures to influence, coerce, intimidate, and undermine the United States’ interests and the interests of United States partners and allies.”
As Congress continues to assess U.S. policy and Chinese activities in Africa, continued support for private sector engagement will be critical. U.S. companies seek access and the ability to partner with businesses that follow the rules. We should consider the full scope of Chinese activities, from expanding ownership stakes in mining operations in Zambia to outright corruption from Chinese telecommunications firms and bribery scandals in Chad and Uganda, to ensure agile policy responses and comprehensive support for rules-based private sector growth. As the Senior Bureau Official for African Affairs testified, “China exploits Africa’s natural resources in its play for dominance and control over global critical mineral supply chains. This is a clear example of the economic, political, and national security threats that China’s influence in Africa poses to the United States’ and Africa’s safety, strength, and prosperity.” That reality is playing out in places like Liberia, where Chinese-backed companies are seeking to displace existing companies through political influence, thereby providing China with access to strategically critical iron ore, to the detriment of Western democracies.
With a clearly defined vision for engagement in Africa outlined early and with continued engagement from congressional leaders in monitoring and mitigating China’s malign activities, the Trump Administration is well-positioned to drive increased U.S. engagement with Africa and promote mutually beneficial growth and prosperity.
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- Peter Mihalick is former legislative director and counsel to former Reps. Barbara Comstock, Virginia Republican, and Rodney Blum, Iowa Republican.
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