Senators Encourage EU to Delay Chinese Investment Agreement

Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Mark Warner, D-Va., said Jan. 4 that they strongly encourage European Union officials “to delay any agreement with China so that the next Congress and president can work alongside them in ending China’s illegal and unfair trade practices and threats to global supply chain integrity.” Some trade negotiators worry that the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (see 2012300030) will allow China to divide and conquer. “America’s go-it-alone approach to trade over the past four years has harmed American workers, consumers, and businesses, all of whom have paid the cost of various punitive tariff campaigns,” the senators said in a statement, adding it also undermined America's global standing and slowed economic growth. “It is encouraging that President-elect [Joe] Biden would like the European Union to wait until he takes office to finalize an investment deal with China. A multilateral approach is necessary to confront China on issues like its abusive labor conditions, unfair and opaque subsidies, forced technology transfers, intellectual property theft, and more,” they said.