We need to check China's cheating while upping our own economic game

More than 50 years ago, the U.S. welcomed the People’s Republic of China (PRC) into the global economy. The hope was that granting the PRC more access to our markets would bring more U.S. access to theirs, so we agreed to the PRC’s entry into the World Trade Organization, and eventually grants it permanent normal trade relations. In return, we were promised fair access to a huge and growing market that would create opportunities for American companies and provide millions of good jobs for American workers.

Unfortunately, that was not what happened.

While the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allowed some American companies in, it has pursued an aggressive strategy that includes forced technology transfers, large-scale and state-sanctioned theft of U.S. intellectual property, cyber-espionage, and economic coercion.  Rather than abiding by international rules, the CCP has imposed its own. 

U.S. companies typically cannot enter the Chinese market unless they partner with a Chinese company. A good example is automobiles. According to the U.S. trade representative, new rules issued by the Chinese Communist Party in 2017 require “foreign automakers [to] transfer key technologies” to the Chinese company “so that [it] can demonstrate ‘mastery’ of the technologies needed for the … manufacture of new energy vehicles in China.”  That mastery has resulted in the PRC becoming the world’s top auto exporter this year. 

Another area of concern is intellectual property theft. According to the FBI, the annual cost to the U.S. economy from such theft is potentially $600 billion. In fact, cyber operations by just one CCP-affiliated actor, called APT 41, is estimated to have stolen billions in intellectual property from multiple sectors of the U.S. economy. 

FBI Director Chris Wray said last year that the CCP has “a bigger hacking program than that of every other major nation combined.” According to CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity company, hackers associated with the Chinese Communist Party are responsible for 67 percent of state-sponsored cyberattacks. Because of that threat, the FBI now opens a new counter-intelligence operation every 12 hours. 

Such abuse by the CCP isn’t limited to the cyber-world. There are recent reports of raids on American firms in the PRC, detention of their staff, and exit bans on employees — meaning they cannot leave the country. Just last month, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory for Americans traveling to the PRC, citing the “arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans, and the risk of wrongful detentions.” 

These are all examples of the current risks of doing business in the PRC. American businesses and investors increasingly face a choice today: do we invest more of our capital, our supply chains, and our futures in the PRC under its current leadership by the Chinese Communist Party? Or do we invest more in our businesses and workers here at home?

We must continue pushing for fair trade practices from the PRC. But to help U.S. companies and workers compete, we must up our own game. Fortunately, some key laws passed in the last Congress should encourage investors to bet on the U.S.

The CHIPS and Science Act provided billions of dollars in incentives for investments in the key industries of the future, from advanced semiconductor chips to Artificial Intelligence and advanced manufacturing. Already, companies from around the world are primed to invest in the U.S. to take advantage of the improved environment for our businesses and workers.

Similarly, the Inflation Reduction Act provided for a huge expansion of our green energy industries and businesses, enabling the U.S. to lead the world in these fast-emerging technologies. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will rebuild our electric transmission lines, so that Americans can take advantage of these new sources of energy, while also rebuilding the roads, bridges, rail lines and ports for the swift and efficient movement of goods — all while creating millions of good-paying jobs.

To make sure we have the workforce to staff these new industries and jobs, I am continuing to lead the fight in Congress to upgrade our career and technical education system — particularly for the 62 percent of Americans who haven’t attained a four-year college degree. And we must end the huge, current backlog in our green-card process that is preventing millions of skilled immigrants from starting businesses and contributing to the U.S. economy.

Yes, we need to get tougher on the CCP to make sure our economic competition is fair. But we also need to keep making the public investments that will give us the best chance to compete — and win.

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, from Schaumburg, is the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party. He was the president of Chicago-area small businesses before his election to Congress in 2016.