Gallagher Committee Maintains Drumbeat

US corporate executives need to “take off the golden blindfolds and stare with clear eyes at the growing peril of doing business with China,” Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc) said at a July 13 hearing.  Rep. Gallagher chairs the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, which held a hearing on the risks of doing business in China.

“There is no such thing as a private company in China,” he said. “Beijing reserves the right to swipe any data, seize and assets and filch any IP it wants[…]Every foreign business that enters into China takes on a silent or not so silent trade partner – the Chinese Communist Party,”

Committee ranking Democrat Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill) agreed. Congress needs to “shine a light” on the risks of doing business with China and focus on investment in America instead, he said.

Committee member Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass) highlighted the need for Congress to reauthorize the expired Generalized System of Preferences program, saying that GSP encourages
US companies to look elsewhere than China for their supply chains.

Mr. Auchincloss and Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla) – along with almost all members of the Select Committee have sent a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee urging GSP reauthorization. “China is benefiting significantly from GSP expiration, which has led to over $2.5 billion in extra tariffs on $45 billion in imports from China’s developing country competitors,” according to the letter.