State and Local Governments Need to Stop Subsidizing Chinese Companies

Congress is poised to agree on historic legislation designed to help America compete against China, especially in advanced industries. Yet while Washington is working to help U.S. companies compete with China, state and local governments (and even some federal agencies) are helping Chinese companies compete against us. Indeed, according to the organization Good Jobs First, since 2010 U.S. state and local governments have provided nearly $2 billion in subsidies to Chinese companies investing in the United States.

But as Rob Atkinson writes in The Hill, this is akin to the federal government’s long-standing practice of taxing cigarettes while subsidizing tobacco growers. If Congress wants to advance the U.S. economy in its toe-to-toe competition with China, then lawmakers need to pass legislation prohibiting cities, states, and the federal government from providing any funding to Chinese companies investing in the United States.