ITIF Welcomes House Select Committee Strategy on Economic Competition With China

WASHINGTON—Following the release of a strategy report from the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition With China, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from ITIF President Robert D. Atkinson:

The Select Committee’s report is an important milestone that signals bipartisan commitment to confront China’s mercantilist assault on advanced industries. It is particularly encouraging that the committee has endorsed updating Section 337 of the Tariff Act to better address the unfair trade practices that China engages in routinely.

ITIF has long advocated for a concerted effort to counter China’s innovation mercantilism, including many of the measures that the Select Committee has endorsed, such as: creating a database to help small businesses see which foreign entities the U.S. government has sanctioned; expanding CFIUS reviews; disclosing Chinese funding of university research; creating a new plurilateral export control regime; establishing a critical technology industry fund; expanding trade agreements with key allies; and giving the EXIM bank more flexibility.

ITIF does not support every recommendation in the Select Committee’s report. It will be important for Congress to carefully consider all of the recommendations in turn. But the Select Committee’s report provides a solid foundation to build on.

For more on this issue, see:

• Robert D. Atkinson, “Speed Up America, Slow Down China, or Both? The Key Strategic Question for the 21st Century” (ITIF, August 2023).
• Robert D. Atkinson, “How to Win the U.S.-China Economic War,” Foreign Policy, November 8, 2022.
• Robert D. Atkinson, “How to Mitigate the Damage From China’s Unfair Trade Practices by Giving USITC Power to Make Them Less Profitable” (ITIF, November 2022).