The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission's Research Working Group issues a Call For Proposals (CFP) and invites submission of proposals to provide concise unclassified reports in the following areas of interest:
- Emerging Technology: Including China’s advanced manufacturing, emerging technology, and research and development efforts that impact U.S. economic and national security.
- Supply Chain Vulnerability: Including studies on sensitive sectors in which U.S. supply chains are dependent on China now or are likely to be in the future under current trends, and the dependency is not otherwise well known.
- China’s Gray Zone Activities: Including studies providing an analysis of China’s use of gray zone operations, the variety of tactics and resources being used in these operations, ways of measuring such operations, and more.
- Other Novel Ideas: Including studies examining other novel issues relating to U.S.-China economic and national security, particularly issues that are not widely covered in existing literature and research.
Background: The Commission periodically contracts for research on issues where third parties have specialized expertise or knowledge as a supplement to the work of Commission staff. These research reports are made public and generally briefed out to interested congressional committees and offices. This Call For Proposals allows third parties with interesting research ideas within the areas of focus to bring those ideas to the Commission for potential funding.
Successful proposals will address topics that are not widely covered in existing literature, clearly establish the policy relevance of the research, frame the proposed report for a Congressional audience, and demonstrate a strong research methodology.
Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis and must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. (ET) on September 30, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Per the request dated August 6, 2025, the Commission received the following questions about its Call For Proposals dated July 23, 2025. Questions have been consolidated and/or edited for purposes of this FAQ. In some cases, the Commission’s understanding of the intent of the question is explained but the specific question is not reproduced in case public dissemination of a proposed research topic was unintended. No further questions will be considered.
Form of CFP
Am I correct in thinking that what CFP should be in outline form---if so, perhaps one to two pages?---summarizing the scope and time frame of the research and including methodology and sources?
Answer: Proposals must contain a general description of the research topic, key research questions the offeror proposes to address, and proposed research methodology. For a full list of proposal requirements, please see the “Proposal submissions should include” section in the Call For Proposals. If an outline satisfies the proposal requirements, it would be an acceptable proposal.
Is there a rough estimate on what is meant by “concise”?
Answer: Reports contracted for under this Call For Proposals should not exceed 25 single-sided pages of text (not inclusive of appendices). Proposals submitted in response to the Call For Proposals should not exceed 10 single-sided pages (not inclusive of appendices or curricula vitae of the principal researchers).
Pricing-Related Questions
Is there any guideline for calculating the compensation sought to complete the final report? What is the usual amount being awarded to an offeror (with the support of a research team)?
Answer: The Commission does not require a specific budgeting methodology. Proposals should include the Firm-Fixed Price the offeror will charge to the Commission to complete the work set forth in the proposal, which shall not exceed $24,500.00.
Should I submit an itemized budget or simply a topline figure?
Answer: The Commission does not require a specific budgeting methodology.
Are we correct in interpreting the Firm-Fixed Price maximum of $24,500 would be awarded per submitted proposal, and that this is not the budget for multiple proposals and offerors that USCC may select?
Answer: Correct, the Firm-Fixed Price maximum of $24,500 is per submitted proposal, if selected for award.
Does the USCC require budgeting in the proposal based on time-and-materials, not-to exceed structure, where the selected contractor would provide monthly invoices, or are you looking for a fixed-price construct where the selected contractor bills a set amount at defined junctures in the project? If it is the latter, is USCC open to a contract with specified milestones?
Answer: The Commission does not require a specific budgeting methodology. The Commission and awarded offeror will agree to a payment structure during contract negotiation, with generally a portion of the Firm-Fixed Price paid at acceptance of the first draft of the report and a final payment at acceptance of the final draft of the report. Offerors who would require different milestones may state so in their proposal. The Commission will not pay any amount of the fee upfront.
Briefings
Regarding item 7 under Additional Requirements, what is the nature of the two potential briefings that key personnel may be requested to provide - i.e., are they virtual, internal briefings with USCC staff, or briefings at Congressional offices, etc.?
Answer: These briefings may be in person or virtual and may include internal briefings with USCC staff, briefings at Congressional offices, and/or appearing as a witness at a public hearing held by the Commission.
Related Proposals
May providers submit multiple related proposals that build upon each other in a scaled or progressive manner? If so, will the Commission provide clarification on whether such submissions should be structured as:
· A single comprehensive proposal with multiple phases or tiers, or
· Separate standalone proposals that can be implemented independently or in combination with others
Answer: Yes, offerors may submit multiple related proposals that build upon each other in a scaled or progressive manner through either structure. Please be advised, however: (1) the Firm-Fixed Price the offeror will charge to the Commission to complete the work set forth in a single proposal (regardless of the number of phases/tiers) may not exceed $24,500.00; (2) if the combined total Firm-Fixed Price for any set of related proposals exceeds $24,500.00, then each proposal within the set must be capable of standing on its own and being selected independent of any other related proposal.
Will the Commission specify preferences for how interconnected proposals should be formatted and whether it requires explicit indication of dependencies between related submissions?
Answer: For any proposal submitted that is interconnected with or dependent on another proposal, the proposal should clearly explain how it relates to the other proposal.
Additionally, will the Commission clarify whether related proposals will be evaluated individually on their own merits or assessed as a comprehensive package? If both evaluation approaches are possible, please indicate how this will affect scoring, selection criteria, and award decisions.
Answer: Each proposal will be evaluated on its own merits and in accordance with the evaluation criteria specified in the Call For Proposals.
Various Questions on the Substance of Proposals
The Commission received a variety of questions asking directly or indirectly for clarification on what topics submitted proposals should focus on/what issues are of most interest to the Commission. These questions are not reproduced below in case public dissemination of a proposed research topic was unintended. The Call For Proposals identified three areas of particular interest (Emerging Technology, Supply Chain Vulnerability, and China’s Gray Zone activities; please see the Call For Proposals for a more in-depth discussion of each), as well as other novel ideas, particularly issues that are not widely covered in existing literature and research. The Commission will not comment on potential proposal topics beyond identifying those specified topic areas. The Commission’s hearings, 2024 Annual Report, and Research products indicate areas that have been of particular focus for the Commission in recent months. Please see our website at www.uscc.gov for more information on each.
What does it mean by “gray zone activities”?
Answer: According to the National Intelligence Council, the gray zone is “a realm of international relations between peaceful interstate diplomacy, economic activity, and people-to-people contact on one end of the spectrum and armed conflict on the other.” Gray zone activities are “coercive or subversive actions to achieve objectives at the expense of others in contravention or in the absence of international norms.” Falling below the perceived threshold for military action, China’s gray zone activities have taken place across a range of domains. https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/NIC-Unclassified-Updated-IC-Gray-Zone-Lexicon-July2024.pdf. The Commission has written extensively in recent years on certain aspects of China’s gray zone activities, particularly those in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.
How should proposals justify the relevance of their novel idea to U.S. economic or national security, perhaps through hypothetical scenarios?
Answer: The Commission does not require a specific methodology to justify the relevance of the novel issue incorporated into a proposal. Proposals must contain a general description of how the proposal would fill a research or policy gap and add value to the existing literature on and Congress’ understanding of the topic. The proposal should also include a literature review on the topic as an appendix. For a full list of proposal requirements, please see the “Proposal submissions should include” section in the Call For Proposals.
Are there restrictions on the scope of novel ideas, like avoiding issues without a direct connection to China and/or PLA?
Answer: Yes. “Other novel issues” should relate to ways in which China’s acts, policies or practices affect U.S. economic and national security, and focus on issues that are not widely covered in existing literature and research. All proposals must relate to topics identified in the Commission’s mandate found at https://www.uscc.gov/charter.
Evidentiary Standards/Methodologies
Various questions related to the Commission’s expectations around evidentiary standards and/or methodologies required for analyzing complex, often technical issues, typically focused on analysis of risks from certain technologies. Some of these questions are not reproduced below in case public dissemination of a proposed research topic was unintended.
What frameworks and/or methodologies are required or recommended to be used for the assessment of national security risks from dual use technologies and/or products?
What methodologies are recommended for tracing the supply chains of dual use technologies from China to U.S. dependencies?
Answer: The Commission does not require a specific framework and/or methodology to assess national security risk or establish the likelihood or feasibility of a risk. Offerors should specify their proposed research methodology in their proposals. In describing the methodology, the offeror should provide detailed descriptions of the sources and methods that will be used to research the report’s topic and the extent to which Chinese language sources, if any, and other primary materials will be used. For a full list of proposal requirements, please see the “Proposal submissions should include” section in the Call For Proposals.
Recommendations
Should proposals include recommendations for U.S. export controls or diversification strategies to mitigate dual use vulnerabilities?
Answer: Proposals themselves do not need to include recommendations, however, any final report contracted under this Call For Proposals must include policy recommendations for Congress related to the topic of the report. To the extent applicable to the research in the report, these recommendations may relate to U.S. export controls or diversification strategies to mitigate dual use vulnerabilities.