WASHINGTON — The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today criticized the Senate for passing the $250 billion CHIPS Act after removing an anti-China security measure that would bar U.S. companies from manufacturing products in China, such as semiconductors, that were developed using federally funded research. Numerous U.S. government investigations, including the Section 301 investigation, have confirmed that China routinely steals trade secrets, technology, and Intellectual Property from U.S. companies, government agencies, and universities. Removing this provision, which was authored by Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), now ensures that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will benefit from U.S. taxpayer funded, cutting edge research.
According to staffers in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) removed Portman’s anti-China guardrail provision, which received bipartisan support and passed the Senate last year. The Washington Free Beacon also reported that U.S. Representative Frank Lucas (R-OK), the ranking member on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, might have been behind the anti-China guardrail provisions being removed as a result of lobbying from universities with large research departments.
“We are deeply disturbed at the motivations of those in Congress that worked to remove the Portman provision,” said Zach Mottl, Chairman of the CPA board. “Spending $250 billion — in a bill to boost U.S. competitiveness with China — without strong guardrails and protections to ensure American taxpayer dollars are not ending up in China’s hands would be an enormous failure. We strongly support passing legislation to increase our nation’s competitiveness with China in the face of decades of economic espionage, theft of trade secrets and IP, state support for key industries, and forced technology transfers by the Chinese government. The House should immediately restore the anti-China guardrails provision. Otherwise this bill will be an affront to the American taxpayer, and a massive win for the CCP.”
