Today, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and member of the House Committee on Financial Services., introduced the Neutralizing Unfair Chinese Export Subsidies Act of 2020, which requires the Secretary of the Treasury to create a strategy to combat unfair Chinese trade by ensuring substantial compliance by China with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits, in line with the goal of reducing, and ultimately eliminating, export subsidies through international negotiations, consistent with the Export-Import Bank Charter.
Currently, China uses export credit subsidies in the form of low-interest credit to buyers of its exports to distort markets, undercut other countries’ exports and further its Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to control trade through infrastructure aid. According to the Export-Import Bank, in 2018 alone, China provided more than $500 billion of export credit. In comparison, the Export-Import Bank has financed $610 billion in nominal value throughout its entire existence. In fact, China’s export finance activity was larger than all other G7 Export Credit Agencies in 2018 combined. The Neutralizing Unfair Chinese Export Subsidies Act creates a roadmap for the Department of Treasury to ensure that bringing China into compliance with international standards remains a principal concern for the U.S. government in negotiations with China.
“Over the last 3 years we’ve witnessed record economic growth, in part, thanks to renegotiating bilateral trade deals and leveling the playing field for the American worker,” said Congressman Zeldin. “We must continue to push back against highly problematic Chinese trade policies, especially when China continuously attempts to operate outside the standards of the global community in an effort to undercut fair international trade, and this legislation is a critical step in leveling the playing field.”
