US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimond arrives at the Department of Commerce in Beijing for a meeting with China’s Secretary of Commerce Wang Wentao on Monday, August 28, 2023.
Andy Wong | Poole | via Reuters
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimond met with Chinese officials on high-stakes trips to Beijing and Shanghai this week, which she said Sunday had helped establish open communication between the two countries. Ta.
Raimond is the fourth senior U.S. official to visit China this summer, but the first by a U.S. Commerce Secretary in five years, at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries.
“We are in fierce competition with China on every level,” Raimond said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “Anyone who says otherwise is naive.” “That said, we need to manage this competition. Disputes are in no one’s interest.”
Raimond said a lack of communication between the US and China could further escalate tensions and lead to misunderstandings, so systematic discussions are key to addressing the commercial issues that have arisen.
The Secretary of Commerce’s visit to China follows recent visits by US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US Secretary of State Antony Brinken. But Raimond’s visit was called into question after Chinese hackers compromised his emails earlier this summer.
“They hacked me and were unappreciated to say the least. I clearly took it and put it on the table,” she said Sunday. “I didn’t throw any punches.”
Raimond also raised concerns about national security, U.S. labor and U.S. business, she said.
In the fall of 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security announced new export controls that would limit the ability of Chinese companies to purchase certain advanced semiconductors from U.S. suppliers.
Raimond said on Sunday that the export controls were about national security and not for economic gain. He added that the U.S. will remain as hard-line as possible with cutting-edge technology.
“We are not going to sell China the most sophisticated American chips that China wants for military power,” Raimond said. “But let’s be clear, the majority of the chips that are manufactured are not as cutting-edge as I’m talking about, so we’ll continue to sell billions of dollars of chips to China every year. It means it will continue.”
He said that while export controls reflect a nuanced and complex policy, selling certain chips to China will ultimately generate revenue for U.S. companies to invest in further research and development. Stated.
