U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Tuesday (November 29) that the United States should do more to address the challenges posed by China, but she stressed that the world's two largest economies cannot should be isolated from each other.
In recent years, the conflict between the United States and China has intensified. The Biden administration continues the tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese goods during the Trump administration. At the same time, it is trying to strengthen the competitiveness of the United States by investing in infrastructure and pouring more than $50 billion into the semiconductor industry.
On October 7 this year, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended export control regulations to restrict the export to China of a variety of chips used in artificial intelligence and supercomputers, while tightening sales of equipment used to produce semiconductors to Chinese companies . A press release issued by the U.S. Embassy in China stated that "two export control regulations (newly promulgated by BIS) limit China's ability to obtain advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and manufacture advanced semiconductors."
China objected to this, arguing that the U.S. modification of export control rules would harm the interests of U.S. and Chinese companies.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Raimondo said the U.S. had "pursued a policy of engagement with China" for years, hoping Beijing would open its economy to foreign competition.
"But China has chosen a different path," Raimondo said. "China's leaders have made it very clear that they do not intend to reform and open up at the political and economic level. Instead, they are committed to strengthening the country's social and economic roles and functions in the military while restricting the free movement of capital and the free dissemination of information. Moreover, they are accelerating efforts to align their economic and technological policies with military ambitions.” As a result, "China's interdependence presents new and significant risks to our national security."
However, she emphasized that the United States "does not seek to decouple from China", but "China hopes to obtain cutting-edge technology from the United States and improve its own military capabilities." "We will not allow this to happen," she said.
Raimondo said, "We need to continue to do business with China and support the US job market through trade with China."
