President Joe Biden has taken a number of steps to prevent the flow of strategic U.S. technologies to China, but many in Congress feel that he hasn’t done enough.
Biden erred in “putting Treasury in the lead with a ton of off ramps,” Gallagher said during an event staged by the Council on Foreign Relations, adding that the Treasury Department, even during the Trump administration, has historically had a “more dovish position” on China than other executive departments.
He also argued that the Biden administration’s decision to only block outbound investment from private sources, while allowing investment in Chinese companies that trade on stock exchanges, is inadequate. Derek Scissors, chief economist for the China Beige Book, estimates that Americans have more than $1 trillion invested in Chinese stocks and bonds, and the outbound investment rule proposed last month suggests exempting this type of investment from any restrictions.