U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, right, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng arrive to a bilateral meeting at the Guangdong Zhudao Guest House in southern China’s Guangdong province, Saturday, April 6, 2024. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, center, arrives to a bilateral meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at the Guangdong Zhudao Guest House in southern China’s Guangdong province, Saturday, April 6, 2024. U.S.
The official Xinhua News Agency wrote Friday night that while Yellen’s trip is “a good sign” that the world’s two largest economies are maintaining communication, “talking up ‘Chinese overcapacity’ in the clean energy sector also smacks of creating a pretext for rolling out more protectionist policies to shield U.S. companies.
Yellen told reporters during an Alaska refueling stop en route to China that the U.S. “won’t rule out” tariffs to respond to China’s heavily subsidized manufacturing of green energy products. The Xinhua commentary was skeptical of U.S. intentions: “it is now known by the world that Washington will not hesitate to show its protectionist teeth under the guise of national security in areas where its supremacy is challenged.”
The U.S. has made efforts through legislation and executive orders to wean itself off certain Chinese technologies in order to build out its domestic manufacturing capabilities. Many members of the White House and Congress view the actions as important to maintaining national security.passed in 2022 to boost the semiconductor industry and scientific research in a bid to create more high-tech jobs in the United States and help it better compete with China. Additionally, last August, U.S.