Raimondo Defends Commerce Budget on the Hill

House Republicans’ proposed cuts to the Commerce Department’s fiscal year 2025 budget will undermine the department’s efforts to fight China’s attempts to illegally obtain US critical technologies, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo warned yesterday.

She testified at a hearing on her department’s budget held by the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on innovation, data and commerce.

At the same time, a House Appropriations panel was marking up legislation that would dramatically cut Commerce’s budget by $1.275 billion, including the Bureau of Industry and Security and the International Trade Administration.

The House Republican plan would cut the budget for BIS by $36.7 million below the President’s request and ITA by $87.5 million below the request.

Commerce needs the President’s requested funding for BIS in order to “expand export enforcement, bolster capacity to identify and protect sensitive technologies, evaluate the effectiveness of existing export controls and update when needed, and increase regional expertise to enhance cooperation on export controls with allies and partners,” Ms. Raimondo said.

Fighting Chinese Economic Coercion

ITA needs to be fully funded in order to address risks arising from outbound and inbound investments, supply chain resiliency and helping US exporters reach new global market.

ITA’s budget request calls for $4 million and 13 positions “to support US export competitiveness in strategic markets that enhance our ability to respond to global threats and counter unfair trade practices and economic coercion by China,” the secretary said. “The budget reflects our view that in order to compete effectively, we must show up in regions around the world where the PRC is exerting its influence, even as the United States remains the partner of choice.”

Also Wednesday, members of the House Select Committee on China on a bipartisan basis raised concerns about China’s efforts to dominate the global markets for semiconductors, ships and drones.

“In all three, America’s industrial capacity has waned while China has gained dominance or is in the process of gaining dominance over each,” committee chairman John Moolenaar (R-Mich) said.

“Across each of these sectors, the CCP playbook is simple, straightforward, and consistent. Using a combination of illegal subsidies, hardball tactics, IP theft, and forced labor, the party gains a stranglehold over the world’s most important supply chains.”