Says bill is major step toward addressing China’s cyberhacking and high-tech theft
Washington. The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA), which represents more than 4.1 million manufacturing, agricultural, and labor households, has endorsed the ‘Fair Trade with China Enforcement Act’ recently introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in the Senate and Congressmen Mike Conaway (TX-11) and Tim Ryan (OH-13) in the House.
CPA Chairman, Dan DiMicco, said “China continues to engage in extremely troubling, predatory trade behavior. Whether it’s intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, or discriminatory licensing practices, China is rapidly gaining a high-tech advantage over US firms. It’s past time that Washington takes action, and we congratulate Senator Rubio and Congressmen Conaway and Ryan for introducing these crucial bills.”
The ‘Fair Trade with China Enforcement Act’ tackles various economic and national security issues related to US-China trade. The bill prohibits the sale of key defense technologies to China, and blocks Chinese companies from acquiring US firms that produce sensitive, advanced technology products. It also targets intellectual property theft and prohibits both the federal government and federal contractors from purchasing services from specific companies that have violated US sanctions laws.
It’s widely recognized that China’s government-owned firms have repeatedly hacked US firms and stolen proprietary technology. Beijing also coerces a systematic transfer of key technologies, costing US firms over $350 billion annually in lost revenues. In 2017, the United States ran a $135.3 billion deficit in advanced technology products with China, a sharp increase from $21 billion in 2003. As a result, the US now faces a troubling decline in both high-tech production and military readiness.
Michael Stumo, CEO of the CPA, said “There are serious economic and national security consequences for the United States as China acts to weaken our nation’s manufacturers and our national security. Beijing is seeking preeminence in advanced technologies, and it has no qualms about using cyber espionage, hacking, and coercive practices to acquire high-tech intellectual property from US companies. These bills represents a much-needed step to safeguard US firms from such blatant aggression.”
CPA believes that improving industrial competitiveness—particularly in advanced technologies—should be a shared, bipartisan goal. CPA members look forward to working on this important legislation.
Sen. Rubio said, “Re-balancing America’s relationship with China is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. Without strong, consistent, and strategic action to assert our national interests, China threatens to supplant the United States to undermine our security and prosperity. The Fair Trade with China Enforcement Act targets China’s tools of economic aggression to make clear the United States will stand up for its workers on the international stage. I welcome Rep. Conaway and Rep. Ryan’s leadership in the House of Representatives on this critical issue.”
