OPINION:
As co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, I was pleased to attend President Trump’s fair trade tariffs announcement at the White House on April 2.
Special thanks to Mr. Trump for demanding fairness and reciprocity in international trade and for his strategic vision and actions to reindustrialize our nation, create jobs and boost economic prosperity.
Right now, one country, above all, engages in egregiously unfair and predatory trade practices designed not simply to benefit themselves but also to harm our country. That country is the People’s Republic of China under Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, which racks up ruinous trade deficits with the United States and seeks to undermine our industrial base.
Since May 1994, when President Clinton foolishly and shamelessly delinked human rights conditionality and trade with China, until January 2024, our cumulative trade deficit with China skyrocketed to a staggering $7.1 trillion.
Unlike previous presidents, Mr. Trump fully understands the nature and scope of the problem, China’s existential threat and what needs to be done.
Under Mr. Xi’s dictatorship, China massively exports products to the U.S. while systematically blocking American-made goods. There is no reciprocity. Intellectual property rights are violated with impunity, and American know-how and ingenuity are often misused to enhance China’s military capabilities.
I went on C-Span the very day Mr. Clinton ripped up his own executive order on May 26, 1994, and denounced the foolishness of thinking that through trade, we could change a communist dictatorship that oppresses its people through the pervasive use of torture, religious persecution, mass internment, forced organ harvesting, forced abortion and an absolute stifling of any dissent, into a responsible partner, one that would respect intellectual property rights and abide by the rules of fair trade.
The idea that communist China could be a responsible member of an international trade regime, the World Trade Organization, which should be premised on equal and fair trade, is a joke. The People’s Republic of China is a predatory, mercantilist command economy, where the state directs resources to not only favored industries but also favored “national champion” companies such as Huawei, where it makes intellectual property theft a practical condition of doing business in China and where it uses slave labor to artificially depress prices and undercut our manufactured goods.
That is why, in 1999, I was the only chairman to hold a hearing pointing out the pitfalls of allowing China entry into the WTO. I was opposed by Republicans and Democrats who believed in the fantasy that by trading with China, it would magically transform into a democracy that respected international norms.
I followed that up with a hearing in 2011, “Ten Years in the WTO: Has China Kept Its Promises?”
The answer?
A resounding “No!”
Still today, the answer is “No!”
China exports fentanyl precursors to be processed by Mexican cartels, with money laundered through Canadian banks, including TD Bank, to poison our youths and wage asymmetrical warfare against the United States.
Imposing tariffs on Mexico will force them to live up to their obligations in combating fentanyl, as well as ending the transshipment of Chinese manufactured goods over their borders to the United States.
The Wall Street Journal story “Tariff-Dodging Move to Mexico Looks Doomed” last week exposed the Chinese Communist Party’s attempt to circumvent tariffs.
I also applaud Mr. Trump’s efforts to close the de minimis loophole. Companies such as Temu and Shein rip off American designs, undercut our manufacturers by violating labor rights, produce shoddy goods that rip off the American consumer and, through their apps, engage in data theft of sensitive personal information. I know work needs to be done to ensure our Customs and Border Protection and Postal Service can collect tariffs due on those goods, but I thank the president for initiating that.
Finally, Mr. Trump is trying to break the PRC’s near monopoly on critical minerals and their processing and restore our energy independence. The last administration destroyed our energy independence and thereby enabled our adversaries to seek a “green new deal” that meant slavish dependency on China for electric vehicle batteries and solar panels.
• Chris Smith is an American politician serving his 23rd representing New Jersey’s 4th Congressional District.
