Image: ReutersU.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo warned China in interviews broadcast on Sunday that the patience of U.S. business was “wearing thin,” saying American companies deserved a “predictable environment and a level playing field.”
While in China recently, Raimondo had said there was strong appetite among U.S. businesses to make the relationship work and that, while some actions of the Chinese government were positive, the situation on the ground needed to match the rhetoric. Raimondo has said U.S. firms faced new challenges, among them unexplained large fines, raids on businesses and changes to a counterespionage law.
“They suggested that they didn’t know about it and they suggested that it wasn’t intentional,” she told CNN. “But I think it was important that I put it on the table and let them know and let them know that it’s hard to build trust when you have actions like that.”