Levin, McDermott Statements on New Report Detailing China's Trade-Distorting Policies

Press Release

Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott (D-WA) today issued the following statements in response to today's report in the New York Times detailing how China is requiring U.S. auto companies to transfer their technologies in order to get access to huge subsidies on hybrid cars. Other recent press reports describe subsidized loans, cheap or free land from local governments across China, extensive tax breaks, and subsidized export credit insurance in the solar power and other "green tech" industries.

Rep. Levin: "I call on the Administration and Congress to stand up to China's trade distorting policies. Today's Times article details China's heavy handed tactics to force U.S. car companies to transfer electric vehicle technology to China. Those actions are far from isolated. China is systematically deploying an arsenal of trade distorting policies to corner the global market in green technology products, whether it be electric cars, wind turbines or solar products. Our efforts to put Americans back to work are made all the more difficult by China's policies, and it is time we take action to counter them -- either through aggressive use of our domestic trade laws or through WTO cases."

Rep. McDermott: "Our trading relationship with China has the potential to provide mutual and substantial benefits for both countries. But our massive trade deficits with China are unsustainable, and China's trade-distorting policies contribute significantly to those deficits and put the fragile global economic recovery at further risk. This deficit is, without question, the single most important issue on the trade agenda today, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Administration and our Republican colleagues to address it."

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