After announcing additional tariffs for China, Donald Trump's nominee for US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, has presented a bold plan toward reducing America's economic dependency on China, labeling the country as a "generational challenge" to US.
Greer will be an important key person during Trump's trade policies for his first term of presidency, and he intends to increase the tariffs and enhance stricter control over trade, investments, and manufacturing.
Trump's Trade Chief's Plans for Reduced China Dependency
Greer's visions include legislation and economic approaches to address China's influences, no matter how this process may trigger short-term challenges in economic terms, Bloomberg reported. To be specific, Greer is calling for Congress to strip China of its "permanent normal trade relations" status and put it in the same league as North Korea and Cuba.
That would more than triple tariffs on imported Chinese goods, including $500 billion in products shipped annually to the United States. He also recommends other steps to prevent Chinese companies from sidestepping US tariffs by shipping goods through Mexico and other countries.
Products with substantial Chinese content could also see new trade restrictions, chocking the control on global supply chains.
Read More: Trump Announces Additional 10% Tariff on Chinese Imports and 25% on Mexican, Canadian Products
Greer also suggests extending export controls to more industries such as transportation equipment and semiconductors. The export controls aim to restrict China from developing critical components of AI, military, and communications technology. He further urges stricter monitoring of US investments in Chinese industries and limits or bans those investments that threaten security, per BBC.
Ultimately, Greer emphasizes promoting US manufacturing capacity in strategic areas including semiconductors, robotics, and pharmaceuticals. Bolstering the efforts on the CHIPS Act, for instance, he recommends expanding incentives offered by Congress, reducing the country's imports from China. More vigorous restrictions on Chinese companies selling to the US government and targeted sanctions could help reinforce plans of elf-reliance.
Greer counters Chinese economic retaliation by proposing legislation to protect US firms and workers. These might be in the form of tariff revenues to compensate affected businesses or taking action against foreign firms that fill gaps left by American companies in China.
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