Congressman: Trump's Trade Pressure on China Comes at Perfect Time

Newsweek

01-05-2025

For decades, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has flouted international trade agreements with impunity. The world has never meaningfully responded, and America's domestic manufacturing interests have suffered. Despite what some headlines may say, President Donald Trump's vision to hold the CCP accountable for its misdeeds and defend our role in the global economy is critical for the future of our nation.
The United States' service economy is attractive to global investment because of the dollar's reserve currency status, access to surplus capital and intellectual talent, and our business-friendly environment. These attributes are crucial to America's standing as the world's strongest and most important market. However, this success has redirected our attention away from our manufacturing capacities, ultimately endangering our national security.
Although we cannot predict future belligerence, we must shore up our manufacturing vulnerabilities in preparation. For example, the Chinese military has rapidly built up its naval fleet to project greater power in the Indo-Pacific as it prepares to reclaim Taiwan and expand its sphere of influence. Despite the threat, shipbuilding capacity for the U.S. Navy is nowhere near sufficient to maintain our current fleet—let alone keep pace with China—due to years of neglect. In response, President Trump is taking aggressive action to restore our maritime industry.
A chinese flag is seen in the financial district of Shanghai on April 7, 2025. Asian equities collapsed on a black Monday on April 7 for markets after China hammered the United States with its...
A chinese flag is seen in the financial district of Shanghai on April 7, 2025. Asian equities collapsed on a black Monday on April 7 for markets after China hammered the United States with its own hefty tariffs, ramping up a trade war many fear could spark a recession. More
HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP/Getty Images
As a physician, I am also gravely concerned about our reliance on China for life-saving drugs. While a mutually beneficial and fair trade relationship is worth cultivating, we simply cannot rely on an adversarial nation to be a trustworthy partner should any type of conflict emerge.
In a now-deleted article published early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Xinhua, the official state news agency of the Chinese Communist Party, suggested restricting exports of masks—which the CCP later did—and pharmaceuticals to cripple the United States. This belies the notion that the CCP would be a reliable partner if the world ever faced calamity again. In a further testament to Beijing's desire to harm our national security, we are currently witnessing the CCP cut off exports of rare earth minerals necessary for medical products and high-tech devices.
Our public policy should reflect the stark reality that China is willing to sabotage America to further its desire for world supremacy. We must incentivize greater domestic or nearshore sourcing and production of critical medical supplies, key starting materials, and active pharmaceutical ingredients—the building blocks of nearly all medicines.
The CCP has made its imperial aspirations clear and is working, with its nefarious partners Russia and Iran, to achieve global dominance and supplant the United States and our Western allies as global leaders. President Trump's provocations to induce long-overdue negotiations with Beijing are necessary to help level the playing field.
Prosperity for some Americans cannot come at the expense of others, and for too long the decline of our manufacturing towns has been tolerated as long as the stock market has gone up. China has for decades employed malicious trade practices that undermine the United States, our industrial capacity, and our intellectual property. American companies cannot compete fairly as long as Beijing subsidizes state-owned enterprises, forces technology transfer, and commits outright theft of intellectual property.
President Trump is applying immense pressure to restructure our economy at a pivotal and opportune moment. Investment is fleeing China, the American public supports targeted action, and he doesn't have to worry about reelection, only America's well-being. The continued strength of the American economy in the 21st century will depend on defending our interests and thwarting Beijing's hegemonic behavior.
Greg Murphy, M.D., represents North Carolina's Third District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.