US looks to work with EU to address Chinese industrial policy

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday that U.S. and European leaders must address China’s industrial policies that pose a threat to clean energy industries worldwide.

“Chinese industrial capacity is currently leading to production that significantly exceeds global demand in key sectors, including electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar,” she said during a speech in Frankfurt.

Yellen said she and U.S. President Joe Biden will take action to protect workers and firms in strategic sectors.

“China’s industrial policy may seem remote as we sit here in this room, but if we do not respond strategically and in a united way, the viability of businesses in both our countries and around the world could be at risk,” Yellen said in the German city.

Yellen warned Chinese officials in April that the United States would not accept an excess production of underpriced goods flooding global markets.

“We’ve seen this story before,” Yellen told reporters last month. “Over a decade ago, massive PRC government support led to below-cost Chinese steel that flooded the global market and decimated industries across the world and in the United States.”

She added that Biden would “not accept that reality again.”

The Biden administration announced last week new tariffs on Chinese strategic industries, including steel, solar, electric vehicles and battery parts.

“We want to see healthy green technology sectors, from innovative start-ups to green manufacturing factories, in the United States, Europe and around the world, not just in China,” Yellen said./VOA/

Some information for this story came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.