China Select Committee Chair Says They'll Examine UFLPA Implementation
House Select Committee on China Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., said that the committee will definitely want to look into how the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is being enforced, and he expects there to be joint committee hearings on the topic.
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"That was probably one of the biggest laws we passed in the last three years, and I'm not confident it's being fully implemented and enforced," he said in an interview at the Capitol.
He also expects an analysis of the Section 301 tariff policy, but said that Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., will take the lead on how to evaluate the Section 301 tariffs' effectiveness in confronting Chinese economic practices.
"Obviously, you can't have a effective and coherent grand strategy vis-a-vis China without an economic and trade component," he said in the interview.
LaHood has been an advocate for a more generous exclusion process for importers, and in 2021, touted himself as a leader of 100 members of Congress in a letter pushing the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to reopen an exclusion process for all companies. He said then:
"The lapse of critical exclusions, many of which expired on December 31, 2020, handed many businesses and their workers a significant bill while budgets were already tight. We all agree that we need to execute a bold, strategic plan to hold China accountable for its unfair trade practices, while encouraging businesses to manufacture and operate in the United States. However, while we strategically and comprehensively engage with China, including through tough enforcement, we must also support good-paying jobs in the United States. Many U.S. companies are eager to move supply chains out of China for a variety of reasons and began seeking reliable alternative suppliers over the last several years. However, in many instances those efforts were crippled by travel disruptions and global economic turmoil prompted by COVID-19, particularly for smaller U.S. businesses that do not have a global footprint. U.S. employers need more time to adapt."
Gallagher said it's too early to say what kind of hearing his committee will have on trade issues and China. "My own personal view -- is that at the same time we attempt to selectively decouple from China, we need to look for opportunities to deepen our technological and economic engagement with other countries. And the idea of an FTA with Taiwan seems to be low-hanging fruit that's going nowhere right now, because there's no proactive, positive trade agenda. And the fact that the Biden administration excluded Taiwan from IPEF is also nonsensical to me."
When asked if the 21st Century Trade Initiative with Taiwan is an adequate substitute for participation in the IPEF, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, he said it doesn't look like it, but added, "If the administration wants to make a counter-argument, we'd love to have that discussion. And we want to hear from our friends in Taiwan directly, about how they feel about it, and what are the opportunities to improve our economic collaboration."
The Democrats who will participate on the select committee have not yet been named. Gallagher said he hopes they will be announced by Friday. "There's no time to waste. This is going to be a bipartisan effort," he said. "They just need to name somebody!"
"We want good, thoughtful, non-bomb-thrower Democrats to join us on the committee. I can tell you, Speaker McCarthy is genuine in wanting it to be a bipartisan effort. So hopefully they'll respond in kind, and I'm eager to get to work."
The vote to establish the committee was broadly bipartisan, with only 65 "no" votes out of 435. "For the 65 holdouts, if the concern is this is somehow going to intensify some anti-Asian rhetoric, I think early on in the committee's work it will become clear that's a misplaced concern," Gallagher said.