US House panels consider how to counter China security threats and ‘unfair’ trade practices
- Federal officials and members of Congress repeatedly raise the need to address the national security risks and unfair trade practices posed by China’s technology sectors
The US House of Representatives held hearings on Wednesday on several proposals concerning trade with China, including possible restrictions that could limit Chinese electric vehicles on US streets, block Chinese semiconductors and components from the US market and impose fees on Chinese-made ships looking to dock in US ports.
On a day with multiple House hearings, federal officials and members of Congress repeatedly raised the need to address the national security risks and unfair trade practices posed by China’s technology sectors.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told a House subcommittee that her department intends to roll out regulations on Chinese electric vehicles concerning data collection and privacy issues by the end of this year.
“Let’s say we had a million Chinese cars on the road, all connected, all collecting data from Americans – all of that is going back to Beijing,” she told the subcommittee on innovation, data and commerce.
“So we are being very aggressive,” Raimondo said.
The rules the department is drafting, she said, could cover “everything from banning Chinese EVs on the roads in America, to regulations on their software – maybe all the data has to be housed in America”.
