WASHINGTON, D.C. (LOOTPRESS) – On Thursday in a Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee hearing titled “Supporting U.S. Workers, Businesses, and the Environment in the Face of Unfair Chinese Trade Practices,” Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV) highlighted her bill, the U.S. Trade Leadership in the Indo-Pacific and China Act.
Click here to watch her remarks or read them as prepared below:
Thank you Chairman Blumenauer and Ranking Member Buchanan, and thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today.
I am excited that my colleague, Congressman LaHood, and I just introduced yesterday the U.S. Trade Leadership in the Indo-Pacific and China Act.
The Biden Administration spent the first 10 months of their time in office sorting through a top-down plan on China. Unfortunately, we are now nearly a year in, with little to no action or even a plan on how to engage with China. We are at a critical juncture, and we cannot waste time. We need clear leadership.
Our legislation would create a blueprint for both Congress and the Administration to assert trade leadership in the Indo-Pacific region and with China. First, the bill would urge Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority and urge the Administration to evaluate negotiating new trade agreements, or joining and improving existing trade agreements in the Indo-Pacific, such as CPTPP. The bill also instructs the Administration to bring Congress into the fold regarding their discussions in this critical region.
The second portion of our bill instructs the Administration to outline a clear long-term economic strategy for our trading relationship with China, particularly as portions of Phase One come to a close.
I think this legislation has aspects that both my Democrat and Republican colleagues can agree with. As we chart a path forward, we must do it thoughtfully.
