Jefferson City News

The U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held a hearing regarding the Biden Administration's People's Republic of China (PRC) Strategy according to a YouTube video published by U.S. Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) on Thursday. During the hearing, Luetkemeyer asked Thea D. Rozman Kendler, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, a series of questions concerning the U.S.' billion-dollar trade deficit with the PRC.

"While struggling today, China's economy is estimated by Goldman Sachs to possibly overtake the United States in the next ten years," Luetkemeyer said. "Most notably, in 2022, the U.S. had a 382 billion dollar trade deficit with China. In 1990, one year before the collapse, the U.S. had a trade surplus of over 2 billion dollars with the USSR right before their collapse. Would the CCP be able to afford their military operations, build detention camps, subsidize their industries against ours, if they had a trade deficit with the U.S. instead of a surplus of 382 billion dollars?"

According to CNBC, China's trade surplus increased from $88.2 billion in March to $90.21 billion in April. Additionally, the U.S. Library of Congress states that China exported $380 billion more in goods and services to the U.S. in 2018 than it imported during that year, leading to a $419 billion deficit.

"For 40 years, we've hollowed out our industrial base & allowed China to join the WTO leading to massive trade deficits," U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) tweeted on Thursday. "I asked the witnesses at today’s @committeeonccp hearing for a commitment to lower the trade deficit."

According to Reuters, China is currently expected to export the most steel in 2023 since 2016, with 2023 exports set to surpass 2022's total of 67.32 million metric tons shipped. Analysts predict that China will ship up to 77 million metric tons of steel in 2023. High demand from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa is a major contributor to the increase. Reuters also reported that China produces over 60% of the world's steel and 57% of aluminum.