‘We’re In A New Economic Cold War With China’: Jeff Duncan Slams Sec. Gina Raimondo

2 months ago

Last month, Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) questioned Sec. of Commerce Gina Raimondo on foreign spending and competition during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00recognize the gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Duncan, for his five minutes of questions.

00:04Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Secretary, thanks for being with us today.

00:07Would you agree with me that we're in a new economic cold war with China

00:11and that economic policy is central to the great competition with China's,

00:16the Communist China, including Section 301 tariffs against the Chinese products?

00:25I agree we're in a great competition with China and 301 tariffs help us and I agree

00:29we have to win. So, I believe in free trade, I think you do as well, but I believe in fair trade.

00:37Exactly. Bottom line is China cheats.

00:39Exactly. Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party is now seeking to circumvent Section 301

00:44by taking Chinese steel and Chinese parts to Thailand and setting up shell companies that

00:50then dump cheap goods in the United States. This includes top mount refrigerators. As you may know,

00:56Electrolux has been making Frigidaire refrigerators in the heart of my district,

01:00Anderson, South Carolina, for the past 25 years. Because of the entry of Chinese dump top mount

01:06refrigerators into the American market, Frigidaire has seen its market share go down. My Chinese

01:12company, Madea, has grown its market share from 8% in the third quarter of 2023 to 28% last quarter.

01:20They've done this with 40 pounds of Chinese steel in each unit while advertising their

01:25no tariff product at half the price of its U.S. competitors. The impact to my district has already

01:32cost 160 jobs and counting. That's why Electrolux has now filed an anti-dumping petition

01:40with your office against Madea and I believe my staff has given your staff the details on that

01:45petition. Madam Secretary, can you assure my constituents that you will give this situation

01:50the thorough investigation that it deserves in light of this second cold war with China

01:55and the economic impacts that is already having in my district? Yes, absolutely. As you know, this

02:02is a quasi-judicial process, so I'm limited in what I can say here. 100%. Look, China cheats.

02:09You're right. China cheats. They subsidize their companies. They don't pay fair wages. They dump.

02:15They circumvent, whether it's Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, etc. and it's not fair. American workers

02:21can out-compete anyone if we have a fair fight. So, if I can follow up with you, you know, in a

02:29private setting, but as I said, 100%, we will look into it. We'll take it seriously and if we assess

02:35that we need to, we'll levy a duty to level that playing field. Level the playing field. Finally,

02:41I'd be remiss in my duties as chair of the Energy Subcommittee if I didn't at least put a plug in

02:46for the application for recognition of the South Carolina Nexus for Advanced Resilient

02:51Energy under the CHIPS and Science Act funding. It's critical to our energy future that we solve

02:56the problems of getting more power onto our grid and do it in an environmentally and ecologically

03:01sound way and I hope you'll consider our state's application to partner with you in that way.

03:05With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Yes.

‘We’re In A New Economic Cold War With China’: Jeff Duncan Slams Sec. Gina Raimondo

Category

Transcript

Recommended