Scholars at a U.S. think tank have proposed a counterstrategy to address Chinese economic coercion. Instead of tit-for-tat retaliation, they suggest building closer economic relationships with allies and partners, and helping them to decouple from China in strategic sectors and critical technology. At an event where the proposal was unveiled, a State Department official concurred that the government is taking a two pronged approach," involving "resilience" and "response."