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**MARCH 9, 2022**
Kuttner on TAP
China Policy: No Time for Mixed Messages
****
With Xi bailing out Putin, the China bill pending before Congress needs
to be stripped of special-interest measures that actually help Beijing.
Yesterday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo issued
a tough warning that if China proceeds with its plans to have Chinese
supply Russia with products blocked by Western sanctions, China could
find itself in violation of those sanctions. But a close look at two
China bills headed for House-Senate conference reveals alarming mixed
signals.
The Senate bill, which began as industrial-policy legislation, is called
the United States Innovation and Competition Act
, or
USICA. It was cobbled together by Chuck Schumer, to get maximum
Republican support.
USICA passed the Senate last June 8, by an impressive 68-32 margin. But
to get that support, from Republicans and corporate Democrats, Schumer
had to include several objectionable features that actually help China.
The House-passed counterpart, the COMPETES Act, is much better. For
instance, the House version gets rid of a loophole that allows Chinese
exports with a declared value of less than $800 to pass into the U.S.
inspection-free.
Among the offensive provisions of the Senate bill are sections that roll
back labor standards relative to those that Democrats got included in
the revised NAFTA deal, and that extend waivers from Section 301 tariffs
for U.S. firms that failed to diversify supply chains away from China.
The Senate bill also includes the Toomey Amendment, which eliminates all
existing tariffs, including on China, on a long list of medical goods,
drugs, and PPE.
Big Tech also sneaked into the Senate bill a sly provision that looks
like it cracks down on Chinese censorship, but actually blocks EU
regulation of excesses by platform monopolies. Much of the Senate bill,
in short, is at odds with the Biden administration's China policy.
Here
is a more detailed analysis of the two bills, by the indispensable Lori
Wallach of RethinkTrade.org . This is no time
to let industry lobbyists festoon a U.S. competitiveness bill with
provisions that actually further open U.S. markets to Chinese
mercantilism.
If there was any doubt about the fifth column of U.S. lobbyists who
serve Beijing's interests, the maneuvering around this bill proves it.
President Biden and his top staff need to play a hands-on role, making
clear what he will sign and what he will veto.
****
~ ROBERT KUTTNER
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**Robert Kuttner's latest book is**
The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy
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