Trade policy analysts testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on Jan. 26 that U.S. government agencies should have broader discretion to review Chinese direct investment in the United States, as a means of pushing for reciprocal market access and implementing the national interest standard established by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
[Daily News| January 27, 2017 |Inside US Trade]
“As long as China restricts U.S. investment in China, largely in ways to take technology, the federal government should feel few constraints to use stricter investment review as a tool to achieve better behavior from the Chinese government,” Robert Atkinson, president and founder of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, testified at the hearing.
“The United States should welcome inward [Foreign Direct Investment] that is market-driven and based on commercial interests, and it should block FDI that is driven by the mercantilist interests of foreign governments,” Atkinson said.
Information gleaned from the hearing, which specifically focused on Chinese investment in the U.S., will feed into the commission’s annual report to Congress. The report provides recommendations on national security implications of the U.S.-China bilateral trade and economic relationship.
