During a Senate Foreign Relations Committeehearing on Tuesday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) asked the No. 2 at the State Department to consider trade policy when thinking about China. This would be in addition to the usual thought process that centers on political diplomacy and defense. But Rubio did not get much in return for his question.
China is not just a military and diplomatic adversary, Rubio said. “They are a technological, industrial, commercial adversary as well and it’s the one thing I want to focus on,” adding that America’s diplomats and foreign policy establishment should include trade and technological advancements in their thinking along with the usual matters of geopolitics.
The technological and industrial high ground has always been a precursor of global power. Today, China dominates the world's electric vehicle markets. They're dumping these cars now or threatening to dump these cars and eviscerate automakers. They are dominant in energy fields, with I think 80% of the global supply chain for solar in their hands. They are technologically a leader in nuclear power in ways that have surpassed our own. They're building this fleet of LNG ships. They're even building cruise ships. And we all understand that shipbuilding is at the core of the ability to project power, not just military, but commercial power. China is the undisputed king of basic industrial inputs, steel and cement. These are not glamorous things; no one is making a Netflix miniseries about steel and cement or shipbuilding, but these are at the core of industrial power. And that used to be at the core of our national power.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the only one in the room discussing China at the hearing this week, turned his focus to defense contractors rather than building merchant marine vessels like LNG tankers, which was the crux of Rubio’s question. He focused on the return of submarine building, something that nearly died out as an industry shortly after the end of the Cold War.
Everything about investing in the industrial base, for Campbell, centered on defense. But he did highlight the challenges of commercial shipbuilding.
“We’ve got strong shipbuilding in the northeast, but we don’t have enough workers. We don’t have enough capacity, generally,” he said.
China Woes: From Free Trade to Fentanyl
Most of the hearing was about diplomatic engagement. Senators questioned whether China was winning the “soft power” battle for hearts and minds in the developing world, and elsewhere. They focused a lot on the Indo Pacific region and Africa in particular, with Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) saying Congress should resign the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to counter China. Coons and Ranking Member James Risch (R-ID) have their AGOA Renewal and Improvement Act of 2024, which seeks to extend the program – set to expire next year — for an additional 16 years, until 2041. This bill gives AGOA members duty-free access to the U.S.
“China trade with Africa was $240 billion last year and ours now is just $48 billion,” Coons said. “How important is the timely reauthorization of AGOA for us to use the tools of trade in Africa?” he asked Campbell.
“I think it’s critical,” Campbell said, adding to the general discourse of the day that in order to counter China one had to focus on the defense industry and open markets to countries where China has a foothold.
Campbell presented a more sober tune on China’s promise to rein in fentanyl precursor chemical labs. Xi Jinping said he would go after labs exporting those chemicals to Mexico to make the lethal, highly addictive synthetic opioid that has turned sections of iconic American cities into dystopian landscapes.
When asked by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) for a scorecard on Xi’s promise to Biden during a meeting in Woodside, California in November, Campbell said he would mark their report card “incomplete.”
But then went on to say he understood the size of China’s problem to tackle that issue.
“There are some modest steps that the Chinese have taken. There are some criminal prosecutions they’ve undertaken. They’ve wrapped up a few of the companies involved,” he said.
“I do just want to underscore how challenging this is. There are a large number of precursor chemicals and a large number of companies. They are innovative and are moving around Asia. The Chinese recognize that since so much of these chemicals are coming from manufacturers in China, they have to take more steps. They have not done so to date and we need to stay on them. This is a critical national security issue for us.”
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CPA is the leading national, bipartisan organization exclusively representing domestic producers and workers across many industries and sectors of the U.S. economy.
Sen. Rubio Asks State Department to Consider China Trade Policy Rather Than Just Defense, But Gets Little In Return
During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) asked the No. 2 at the State Department to consider trade policy when thinking about China. This would be in addition to the usual thought process that centers on political diplomacy and defense. But Rubio did not get much in return for his question.
China is not just a military and diplomatic adversary, Rubio said. “They are a technological, industrial, commercial adversary as well and it’s the one thing I want to focus on,” adding that America’s diplomats and foreign policy establishment should include trade and technological advancements in their thinking along with the usual matters of geopolitics.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the only one in the room discussing China at the hearing this week, turned his focus to defense contractors rather than building merchant marine vessels like LNG tankers, which was the crux of Rubio’s question. He focused on the return of submarine building, something that nearly died out as an industry shortly after the end of the Cold War.
Everything about investing in the industrial base, for Campbell, centered on defense. But he did highlight the challenges of commercial shipbuilding.
“We’ve got strong shipbuilding in the northeast, but we don’t have enough workers. We don’t have enough capacity, generally,” he said.
China Woes: From Free Trade to Fentanyl
Most of the hearing was about diplomatic engagement. Senators questioned whether China was winning the “soft power” battle for hearts and minds in the developing world, and elsewhere. They focused a lot on the Indo Pacific region and Africa in particular, with Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) saying Congress should resign the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to counter China. Coons and Ranking Member James Risch (R-ID) have their AGOA Renewal and Improvement Act of 2024, which seeks to extend the program – set to expire next year — for an additional 16 years, until 2041. This bill gives AGOA members duty-free access to the U.S.
“China trade with Africa was $240 billion last year and ours now is just $48 billion,” Coons said. “How important is the timely reauthorization of AGOA for us to use the tools of trade in Africa?” he asked Campbell.
“I think it’s critical,” Campbell said, adding to the general discourse of the day that in order to counter China one had to focus on the defense industry and open markets to countries where China has a foothold.
Campbell presented a more sober tune on China’s promise to rein in fentanyl precursor chemical labs. Xi Jinping said he would go after labs exporting those chemicals to Mexico to make the lethal, highly addictive synthetic opioid that has turned sections of iconic American cities into dystopian landscapes.
When asked by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) for a scorecard on Xi’s promise to Biden during a meeting in Woodside, California in November, Campbell said he would mark their report card “incomplete.”
But then went on to say he understood the size of China’s problem to tackle that issue.
“There are some modest steps that the Chinese have taken. There are some criminal prosecutions they’ve undertaken. They’ve wrapped up a few of the companies involved,” he said.
“I do just want to underscore how challenging this is. There are a large number of precursor chemicals and a large number of companies. They are innovative and are moving around Asia. The Chinese recognize that since so much of these chemicals are coming from manufacturers in China, they have to take more steps. They have not done so to date and we need to stay on them. This is a critical national security issue for us.”
MADE IN AMERICA.
CPA is the leading national, bipartisan organization exclusively representing domestic producers and workers across many industries and sectors of the U.S. economy.
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