U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), co-chairman of the U.S.-China Working Group (USCWG), is leading group congressional members on a trip to China to help negotiate fair trade with the United States.
“As the administration continues to engage with the Chinese in ongoing trade negotiations, this trip comes at a critical time in our countries relationship,” said Rep. LaHood, who serves on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over all trade issues.
Members of the USCWG delegation will attend meetings in Hangzhou and Beijing with Chinese officials and representatives from U.S. businesses operating in the country, according to a March 18 statement released by Rep. LaHood’s office.
The congressman said that China has been an unfair trading partner with the United States over the last 25 years. During its trade talks in China, Rep. LaHood said that the USCWG will emphasize structural reform in China’s trading practices, including increased market access for U.S. companies, the protection of U.S. intellectual property, updated regulatory practices, and eliminating forced technology transfers.
Additionally, the USCWG members will urge China to further regulate and control the export of fentanyl, which has contributed to the opioid crisis in America, according to the lawmaker’s statement.
In advance of the trip, Rep. LaHood, along with U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), USCWG co-chair, and members of the delegation met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer for an update on the current trade negotiations between the U.S. and China.
“We have real and long-standing systemic issues with China and I applaud the administration for going after their unfair trading practices,” Rep. LaHood said on Monday. “Any agreement must be enforceable, but it must also recognize the negative impact tariffs have had on our agriculture and manufacturing communities in central and west-central Illinois.”
In his home state, for instance, LaHood said farmers and manufacturers “have taken the brunt of retaliatory tariffs.”
“This trip will give them a seat at the table by allowing me to advocate on their behalf,” the representative said. “As two leading global economies, we have a responsibility to engage in regular and substantive dialogue to enhance areas of cooperation, and I look forward to being a voice for our agriculture community in the Midwest during this trip.”
Rep. LaHood will be a strong advocate for American farmers and manufacturers on this trip to China, said U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee.
“While we want China to buy more U.S. goods that support farmers, manufacturers and workers here at home, it’s even more important for us to hold China accountable to meeting high international standards on intellectual property rights, forced technology transfer, subsidization, overcapacity, and the other structural ways in which China distorts the global economy,” Rep. Brady said.