As global trade and national security become inseparable, the National Foreign Trade Council has turned to a veteran export control expert to guide U.S. companies through rising geopolitical risk. Her path from diplomatic breakthroughs in Beijing to industry advocacy in Washington carries lessons with particular relevance for Taiwan.

When U.S. and Chinese officials were deadlocked over a landmark export control agreement nearly two decades ago, it was not a stern ultimatum that broke the impasse, but a plate of cookies.

Jeannette L. Chu, then serving as the Senior Export Control Attaché in Beijing, had spent months trying to secure a breakthrough on end-use visits — inspections meant to ensure sensitive technologies were not misused. Frustrated by the stalemate, she baked dozens of sugar cookies for Chinese New Year, each decorated with characters for prosperity and longevity.

Around the table, as officials nibbled on the treats, she reframed the issue: “The New York Times headline is going to be ‘China not trusted.’ How are you going to explain that?”

Hours later, the agreement moved forward.

The episode captures the blend of pragmatism, empathy, and creative problem-solving that has defined Chu’s career. In January 2023, she became Vice President for National Security Policy at the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), leading efforts to ensure that U.S. business interests are advanced in tandem with safeguarding global security.

Chu’s perspective is also rooted in her background. Born in Taichung and adopted by a Chinese American family as an infant, she grew up speaking Chinese at home and was immersed in both American and Chinese cultures. Her parents, who immigrated to the United States from Taiwan, shaped her career by frequently invoking President John F. Kennedy’s famous quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”

Chu visited Taiwan regularly as a child and says that Hualien remains one of her favorite places. For decades, however, she didn’t return to Taiwan, until a whirlwind trip in 2023 brought her face-to-face with the island’s dynamism. “It is such an interesting place where past and present merge so seamlessly,” she says.

Forged in public service

Chu began her career in the U.S. federal government while still in university, but it was her 13 years in China — first at the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, then at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing — that gave her a front-row seat to history.

In China, she also served as the first Immigration and Naturalization Service officer. The role plunged her into the realities of cross-border mobility, adoption cases, and immigration law. “It was and remains an enormous privilege to have a small part in shaping what America will look like for future generations,” Chu says.

As the senior export control attaché for the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Chu traveled to more than 20 provinces in China, conducting over 250 inspections of factories, universities, research labs, and other sites to verify that U.S.-origin high-tech items were used for civilian purposes and not diverted to the military or other unauthorized ends. She was instrumental in establishing a U.S.-China High Technology Working Group and negotiated with Chinese counterparts on some of the thorniest issues in U.S.-China trade relations.

Chu ultimately served for more than 31 years across seven federal agencies. Reflecting on those defining years in China, she notes that the experience was also a personal education.

“I had no clue how business was run in China,” she says. “So I wanted to learn. I needed to understand daily life in the world’s fastest-growing economy. I learned how critical it is not just to empathize with but to truly understand the other person’s point of view. What does success look like in their eyes? What does failure look like?”

The cookie breakthrough illustrates her approach of blending strategic messaging with cultural awareness. “Being able to show them that I understood their pressures was key,” she says.

Later, as Senior Policy Advisor at BIS in Washington, D.C., Chu helped shape export control reform. She emphasizes that she never saw her role as a balancing act between business and national security.

“If you do it right, it shouldn’t be a balance. BIS is a national security agency. Their job is to safeguard that interest first and foremost. Understanding how business really operates helps inform what it takes for national security policies to work.”

From consulting to advocacy

After three decades in government, Chu moved into the private sector. At PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), she advised U.S. and multinational companies on export controls and sanctions. The experience unveiled the challenges global enterprises face in interpreting sweeping regulations while keeping operations running.

“Global companies are always asking, ‘how should I respond, what does compliance mean, and what measures would I need to take?’” she says. The exposure deepened her appreciation for the complexity of aligning policy with practice and reinforced her belief that industry input is essential to effective policymaking.

In 2022, Chu became the first vice president for national security policy at the NFTC, a newly created role. It marked the first time the major trade association had a senior post focused on the intersection of national security and trade. The NFTC’s members span the breadth of the U.S. economy, together representing business and societal needs.

Chu describes her colleagues at the NFTC as a “small but mighty” team of subject matter experts with extensive experience in the private and public sectors, who together, as she puts it, “punch above our weight.”

Founded in 1914, the NFTC advocates for U.S. companies on international tax, trade, supply chain, and national security policy. Chu’s portfolio zeroes in on the intersection of economic and security policy.

“We used to say economic security is national security,” she says. “Now it is boomeranging — national security rationale and tools are the first line of defense in shoring up economic security.” She notes that Section 232 investigations — originally intended to safeguard national security — are now being used to regulate imports across industries. Secondary tariffs and new forms of export controls, she adds, further illustrate how blurred the lines have become.

For Chu, the NFTC provides a platform to leverage her experience in government, the private sector, and policy in amplifying business voices in Washington. “To be able to stand up, to put together the voice of business when national security is so much a part of the discussion — what an amazing opportunity,” she says.

Taiwan in a shifting Indo-Pacific

Chu is adamant that Taiwan remains central to global supply chains, despite talk among analysts and business experts of “Taiwan plus one” strategies. The approach echoes the earlier “China plus one” model: companies maintain a strong base in Taiwan but shift portions of production, sourcing, or investment to other markets to hedge against geopolitical and supply chain risks.

“Companies tend to take a very expansive, somewhat geographically agnostic view,” she says. “What matters is reducing friction, wherever that is located. Taiwan’s intellectual capital ensures it will remain central.”

She adds that Taiwan’s strength can be found not just in its talent but also in its dense industrial ecosystem, where suppliers, manufacturers, and innovators operate side by side. “That makes you indispensable.”

To prove her point, Chu highlights Taiwan’s might across semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and dual-use defense systems. “Semiconductors are durable until we reach a post-silicon world. Even then, legacy semiconductors will still matter.” Taiwan’s role in AI development is also considerable, with hundreds of companies tied into the AI supply chain.

“In the President’s AI action plan, the U.S. calls for global adoption of our AI standards,” says Chu. “Taiwan is critical, not just for chips but for the broader ecosystem.” She also points to Taiwan’s drone industry as an important player in diversification efforts, particularly as the Trump administration opened a Section 232 investigation into uncrewed aerial systems in July.

At the same time, Chu cautions Taiwanese companies against complacency. Global supply chains are under increasing scrutiny, and she urges small and medium-sized enterprises to lean on available resources.

“Governments are full of untapped potential,” she says, citing the BIS export control attaché in Taipei as a proactive partner for local businesses. She adds that organizations such as AmCham Taiwan provide critical platforms for advocacy and dialogue. “The synergies you foster through monthly meetings are profoundly important to members,” she says.

Chu’s career has shown that relationships, whether across negotiating tables in Beijing or within Taiwan’s business community, are what ultimately make policies durable. That insight also drives her commitment to mentoring. For her, guiding young professionals is part of cultivating the next generation of trusted partners and problem-solvers.

To fulfill this mission, she serves on the Executive Board of Ascend Greater Washington and mentors through the Women’s Foreign Policy Group and Women in Technology. Her philosophy is straightforward: “My goal in mentoring is to help find and foster the people that I want to work for someday,” she says.

To Chu, mentoring is not about recounting her own journey but about helping others see themselves more clearly. “You need to meet people where they are, whether they are just starting out, transitioning careers, or recovering from a job loss,” she says. “It’s about helping them unlock their own success.”

Quiet acts of advocacy are often the most powerful, she says. “Success is to be that unknown voice in the back room that changes the trajectory of someone’s career.”

Hunting gray rhinos

For economies like Taiwan’s, where stability is essential to remaining central in supply chains, Chu argues that the real danger lies in risks that seem obvious but go unaddressed. She urges businesses and policymakers to prepare for these “gray rhinos” — high-probability, high-impact risks that are often overlooked.

Currency fluctuations are one such risk, with volatile exchange rates capable of quickly altering costs of goods, manufacturing, and logistics. Disruptions to supply chains are another, as seen in the Suez Canal blockage and the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which severely disrupted U.S. East Coast trade.

Geopolitical tensions loom largest. The Taiwan Strait, the Korean Peninsula, and even often overlooked dynamics such as Taiwan-Philippines relations, demand close scrutiny. Chu cautions against assuming stability.

“It’s important to pressure test commonly held assumptions,” she says. “Forward planning helps you see risks walking up the street before they hit your front door.”

Looking ahead, she believes the most durable trends are not individual technologies but the relationships that underpin trade and security. “Nobody invests for a week,” she says. “When you build a fab or establish a training program, you are committing years. What makes things durable are the relationships that have been forged.”

For Taiwan, that insight carries particular weight. Long-term partnerships in semiconductors, AI, and other strategic sectors will shape the island’s role in the global economy well beyond short-term shifts in trade policy or geopolitical tensions.