Elena Martinez
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen asserted on Monday that she remains open to employing various measures, including potential tariffs, concerning China’s exports in the green energy sector.
“I wouldn’t rule anything out at this juncture. We must keep all options on the table. Our aim is to collaborate with the Chinese to explore potential resolutions,” she articulated during an interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen.
Yellen’s remarks were in response to inquiries regarding the likelihood of Washington implementing tariffs should China persist in its current approach to industry incentives.
“I’m not primarily contemplating export limitations but rather adjustments in their macroeconomic policies, along with a reduction in particularly localized government subsidies to enterprises,” Yellen elaborated.
Nevertheless, she underscored the imperative to establish equitable conditions within the green technology domain. “Our foremost concern is to ensure that our enterprises and workforce aren’t marginalized and that they continue to find opportunities in these pivotal industries that will shape our future,” she emphasized.
Yellen is presently in Beijing and is scheduled to depart China on Tuesday. Her visit commenced last Thursday in Guangzhou, aiming to engage with Chinese officials amidst strained economic ties between the two nations.
The United States has increasingly expressed apprehensions regarding the surplus of subsidized Chinese clean energy commodities, such as solar power, electric vehicles, and lithium-ion batteries, which are being exported to global markets at discounted rates, adversely impacting the competitiveness of domestic firms.
This concern is shared by U.S. allies, including Japan and Europe, as they contend with an inundation of inexpensive Chinese products, such as solar panels, flooding their markets.
This situation arises amidst mounting skepticism surrounding the national security implications posed by Chinese technologies in the United States. Last month, U.S. legislators passed a bill mandating Chinese tech behemoth ByteDance to divest its popular social media platform TikTok’s U.S. operations or face an effective prohibition.
When questioned about her expectations regarding China’s willingness to permit the sale of TikTok’s assets to a U.S. entity or American investors, Yellen declined to speculate on future developments.
“This is a significant and lucrative enterprise, and I believe they are apprehensive about the possibility of being compelled to withdraw from the United States,” she remarked.
