In December 2020, in the aftermath of the presidential election, Jake Sullivan, President-elect Joe Biden’s national security advisor, urged European officials to delay a European Union vote on a proposed economic agreement with China, called the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI).

Sullivan, communicating with French and German officials, explained that the incoming Biden administration wanted to have ‘early consultation’ with the Europeans on China, and urged them to hold off until Biden took office to devise a common approach toward Beijing.