U.S. Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) this week applauded the Trump administration’s Phase One trade agreement with China during a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee hearing on U.S.-China trade and competition.
The Phase One China trade agreement, negotiated and signed in January by President Donald Trump, relaxes some of the tariffs the United States imposed on Chinese imports. In exchange, Beijing agreed to buy more American products, among other changes.
During the Feb. 26 hearing, Rep. Walorski commended the deal’s provisions to hold China accountable for unfair trade practices, including intellectual property theft, agricultural trade barriers and forced technology transfers, while Rep. Kelly highlighted how such unfair trade practices have impacted steel companies in his home state.
“We will not be able to defend ourselves in the future if we don’t have strong steel and strong farms and strong manufacturing,” Rep. Kelly said. “It’s just a fact of life.”
“I don’t think it’s any secret that China has been predatory in its trade practices,” said Rep. Walorski. “President Trump promised, like others, that he’d be tough on China. Unlike others, President Trump has kept that promise.”
The congresswoman added that the U.S. government “couldn’t continue to let China play this game of making promises with one hand, while stealing American technology, jobs, blood, sweat, and tears with the other.”
Rep. Walorski said such a strategy just isn’t sustainable for America’s economy.
“With the Phase One deal, they’re not going to get away with it any longer,” she said.