"Face the Nation," July 9, 2023

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, what I can tell you is that I had a very constructive visit, I received a warm welcome, and had very substantive series of meetings.

We had substantive conversations about the global economy, developments in our own economies, financial markets, and a list of concerns that each of us brought to the table that we agreed to follow up on over time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, that certainly is one of the concerns that I expressed.

I had the chance to meet with American businesses and to hear about their concerns, but -- and, certainly, in my meetings, that is a concern that I raised. It's something that we will have further conversations about, and try to address over time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, an objective of my trip was to explain that national security is something that we can't compromise about and we will protect, and we will do so even if it harms our own narrow economic interests, but that, when we take such actions which do have an effect on the Chinese economy, that we will make sure that they are transparent, narrowly targeted, and well-explained.

And this is a point that I tried to make in my conversations with Chinese counterparts. I would point out that the Chinese also protect their own national security through export controls and other similar devices, including controls on outbound investment.

I explained that President Biden is examining potential controls on outbound investment in certain very narrow high-technology areas, and that, if we go forward with these, that they will be indeed very narrowly targeted, and not -- should not be something that will have a significant impact on the investment climate between our two countries.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

That's right.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, mainly, I tried to explain what it is that we're contemplating.

It's still something being discussed in the administration, and the timing of it is not -- is not yet certain.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, no final decision has been made. But, as I have said previously, this is something we're looking at very carefully.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Yes.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, I certainly expressed concern about this action, and contrasted it with the actions that we've taken.

Our own actions are narrowly targeted to address national security concerns. And I -- it's not clear that the actions that the Chinese took are similarly narrowly targeted at their national security concerns. So, this is an area that I expressed concern about.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, potentially.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, my purpose is to make sure that we don't engage in a series of unintended escalatory actions that will be harmful to our overall economic relationship with one another.

And we have had very little contact, both senior officials, and also just the American people and the Chinese people have had very little contact with one another over the last several years, in part because of COVID. And that's a situation where misunderstandings can develop.

We have a new team on the economic side in Beijing, that it's important to establish person-to-person relationships, and to open ongoing channels of communication, where concerns can be aired and discussed. And I do think my trip has been successful in forging those relationships and creating the opportunity for a deeper set of more frequent contacts at our staff levels.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, that is a topic that I discussed with my Chinese counterparts.

We talked about the policy actions that they think -- see as appropriate to stimulate their economy and promote what they describe as high-quality growth. And I was able to better understand the actions that they do think are appropriate.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

You know, I -- I think that they have opened up their economy following its closure from COVID and are working through a series of issues relating to issues in the property sector in real estate.

And consumer spending there has rebounded a little bit less. Consumers are showing more caution and saving -- saving more than many commentators expected, many economic forecasters expected. But my counterparts talked about their perspective on this and the actions that they're taking.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

It's my hope that and belief that there is a path to bring inflation down, in the context of a healthy labor market. And the data that I have seen suggests we're on that path.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

It's not completely off the table.

But we would expect, with the job market as strong as it is now, to see a slower pace of ongoing job gains. Prime age labor force participation is at the highest level in several decades. So we've seen this strong job market attract workers back to it.

But as -- as that stabilizes at a high level, we should expect the monthly job gains to be coming down toward a more normal level.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source