CEOs to meet in D.C. with eyes on China

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is among the most sought-after meetings for a key corporate gathering in Washington next week, in hopes that she can help U.S. business leaders navigate the increasingly treacherous straits between America and China.

Raimondo, who returned last week from Beijing, may brief the Business Roundtable gathering, which comes at a precarious time for firms like Apple, Boeing, and Intel that are caught in the middle of rising tensions between the U.S. and China. The group lobbies on behalf of America’s biggest companies, and its members include some 230 corporate chiefs, including those of JPMorgan, Walmart, and Procter & Gamble.

One tech executive told Semafor that his company is feeling squeezed by Chinese officials, who are encouraging its executives to publicly tout their commitments to, and hard-dollar investments on, the mainland. A series of raids by Chinese authorities on western consulting firms in recent months looms in the background of such discussions.