MOBILE, Ala. — Alabama Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL1) recently visited the People’s Republic of China with a group of his colleagues and is now sounding the alarm about China’s unfair trade practices and aggressive military expansion.
Byrne noted that China, the world’s most populous country, and the United States, the world’s largest economy, have both benefited economically from trade ties in recent years.
“We are China’s number one export market while China is a major importer of U.S. goods and services,” he explained. “As more people in China enter the middle class, demand will increase for higher end products that the United States can and does provide. In addition, we receive more affordable consumer goods from China, which helps keep inflation low.”
More specifically, Byrne noted that Alabama has strong economic ties to China.
“China depends on the United States for a number of agricultural imports, and many of those products are produced at Alabama farms,” he said. “Also, Continental Motors, which has an operation at Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, is a U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese company, and they employ several hundred people right in our backyard.”
But the south Alabama congressman, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 2013, also criticized the Chinese for flouting trade laws and stealing secrets from U.S. companies.
Earlier this year, for example, Alabama-based Graphite Electrode Sales, a company which specializes in graphite products for the steel industry, caught a competitor working with the Chinese to break the law and was ultimately rewarded with a $480,000 settlement from the U.S. Justice Department.
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“Unfortunately, the Chinese have shown they will do anything to win, including spying and cheating,” he said. “China has a track record of being a bad actor when it comes to trade, especially as it relates to currency manipulation and dumping products into the international market. These issues are especially harmful to the steel industry, which is important to our local economy in Southwest Alabama.”
“We must have a more aggressive and pro-American strategy to address these issues relating to trade and the economy,” he concluded. “At the end of the day, no trade is preferable to unfair trade that negatively impacts American workers.
Byrne, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, also expressed concerns with China’s ever-expanding military, “especially when it comes to their navy, air force, and missile capability.”
While he credited China with pushing back against North Korea’s reckless nuclear threats, he said one of the main reasons he has “pushed so hard for the United States to expand our own naval fleet, including the Mobile-built Littoral Combat Ship, is that we must project American force in the western Pacific in response to Chinese naval, air, and missile build-up.
“Over five trillion dollars in goods move through sea lanes in the South China Sea, and now China is trying to exert control over the region by claiming islands that are also claimed by other nations.
“While the sovereignty and ownership is being decided in international tribunals, we cannot let China simply exert rights and control over this important area. Clarity and predictability in our policy and our rules of engagement are critical when it comes to interacting with the Chinese in this important maritime environment.
(Video below: China ramps up island-building in South China Sea)
“Ultimately,” Byrne concludes, “the key to the relationship between our two countries is balance. The United States must continue to engage with China and search for areas where we can work together, but we should always stand our ground when it is in our best interest.”
