Bipartisan Rouda Provision Blocking Federal Transit Dollars To Chinese State Sponsored Companies Passes House In National Defense Authorization Act
Said Rouda, “I’m proud
to be the lead sponsor of this important piece of legislation with Senator John
Cornyn (R-TX), who worked to secure this provision in this year’s Senate NDAA.
China’s ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative is an unmistakable effort to harm
American manufacturers by subsidizing Chinese rail and bus industries. Chinese
companies misrepresent themselves as benevolent actors, but let’s be clear:
this is an attack on our economy and national security. I thank my colleagues
on both sides of the aisle for coming together to stop the flow of Americans’
taxpayer dollars to Chinese state-owned or state-supported companies.”
Specifically, the provision
prohibits financial assistance to be used in awarding a contract or subcontract
to an entity for the procurement of rail rolling stock for use in public
transportation if the manufacturer is owned, controlled by, or legally or
financially related to corporations under certain conditions identified in the
bill that designate the corporation to be a state-sponsored or owned enterprise
located in adversarial non-market economies like China.
The Chinese government
continues to use a range of state subsidies and predatory practices to support
its market ascension in certain sectors of the United States’ economy. Two of
these sectors, rail manufacturing and bus manufacturing, are included as part
of China’s “Made in China 2025” initiative, a plan targeting global dominance
in areas that the Chinese government considers most strategic to its global
aims.
Chinese state-owned and state-supported
enterprises have used subsidized “bargain prices” well-below competitive market
price to win contracts throughout the United States. A number of large,
metropolitan areas have recently awarded rail rolling stock procurements to a
Chinese state-owned enterprise. There are a number of threats these
procurements pose including impeding economic competitiveness and overtaking
the supply chains that support United States public transportation agencies.
Chinese state-owned and state-supported enterprises have increased security
vulnerabilities and create new risks for rolling stock procurements.
Joining Rouda in originally
introducing the provision in May were Reps. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Scott Perry
(R-PA), Kay Granger (R-TX), Tim Ryan (D-OH), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC),
Randy Weber (R-TX), and John Garamendi (D-CA). In the Senate, the original bill
was led by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mike Crapo
(R-ID), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
Additionally, Rouda cosponsored eight amendments adopted in the NDAA.