A top US trade official took a veiled swipe at China on Thursday for a range of unfair trade practices, but also criticised the United States for being asleep at the wheel for far too long.
“They subsidised, they dumped, they erected regulatory barriers, they supported state-owned enterprises, they used every tool available to build their industries and capture a greater share of the American market,” said William Kimmitt, the US under secretary of commerce for international trade, without mentioning China by name.
But he added: “Our government too often stood by and watched as American factories closed, American production moved overseas, and American workers were overlooked and forgotten. Our leaders, too often, refused to recognise that reality, or worse, simply allowed it to happen.”
Touting the Trump administration’s “America first” trade policy, Kimmitt was speaking at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based non-profit conservative think tank.
The policy has been a cornerstone of Trump’s second term agenda, focusing on tariffs, supply chain decoupling and recalibrating trade agreements, in the name of what it officially calls “addressing unfair and unbalanced trade”.
America needs factories, furnaces and smelters, machine tools, abundant energy, skilled workers, and companies prepared to invest for the long term, Kimmitt added.
“We need the capacity to manufacture the materials and technologies required for our economy, our infrastructure and our national defence.”
Read the full article at South China Morning Post →📄Source document: William Kimmitt, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
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South China Morning PostParty-alignedRight2 days agoA top U.S. trade official criticized China for unfair trade practices such as subsidies, dumping, regulatory barriers, and support for state-owned enterprises, while also criticizing the U.S. government for failing to protect domestic industries and workers. The comments were made by William Kimmitt, the U.S. under secretary of commerce for international trade, during a speech at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. He praised the Trump administration's 'America first' trade policy, which focuses on tariffs, supply chain decoupling, and renegotiating trade agreements.
Bias read (Right): The article frames the criticism of China within the context of the Trump administration's 'America first' trade policy, which aligns with right-leaning economic nationalism. The emphasis on tariffs, supply chain decoupling, and protectionism reflects a conservative economic perspective. The framing
Official sources cited
- government William Kimmitt, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
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