[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 15, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S207-S208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 CHINA

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on China, later this morning the 
President is expected to take part in the signing ceremony for the so-
called phase 1 trade agreement with China.
  Now, I have commended the President for his instincts when it has 
come to China. At one point, his instincts were to be strong and tough. 
I have compared his stances previously to those of previous 
administrations. I was rooting for the President to succeed for the 
sake of jobs and wealth and the economy in this country, and I told him 
that personally. So this phase 1 deal is an extreme disappointment to 
me and to millions and millions of Americans who want to see us make 
China play fairly. President Trump's phase 1 trade deal with China is a 
historic blunder. Several harmful policies and practices are reportedly 
unaddressed.
  First, there appear to be no commitments to end China's subsidy 
program that continues to hurt U.S. industries and workers at all 
levels.
  Second, there appear to be no commitments to reform the Chinese 
policy of state-owned enterprises, which unfairly compete with American 
enterprises and take American jobs away while they are allowed to 
freely sell here and while our best companies can't sell there.
  Third, there appear to be no commitments to curtail the illegal 
dumping of Chinese products into our markets, which puts American firms 
out of business and workers out of jobs.
  Fourth, glaringly, there appear to be no significant commitments to 
definitely end China's predatory and flagrant cyber theft of American 
intellectual property, which has stolen a generation of American jobs 
and American wealth.
  Fifth, concerning what the deal achieves in terms of agricultural 
purchases, it appears the Trump administration has not addressed the 
fact that China has existing contracts with countries like Brazil and 
Argentina. It doesn't need any more of our products, certainly not in 
the numbers that have been talked about, and the agreement does not 
grapple with the fact that American farmers have already lost billions, 
have watched their markets disappear, and have gone bankrupt in the 
time it has taken the President to reach the deal.
  Reading the reporting of phase one of the trade deal feels like 
watching a bad rerun of the past 10 years of botched trade negotiations 
with China. I fear that President Xi is laughing at us behind our backs 
for having gained so much at our expense. The United States concedes 
our leverage, and in exchange, China makes vague, unenforceable 
promises it never intends to fulfill. We have seen this over and over 
again. China agrees to something, and they don't do it.
  President Trump complained about President Obama and President Bush 
and others when they signed these deals and nothing happened, and he is 
doing the same darn thing--the same darn thing. It is no wonder they 
haven't made it public. They are afraid that when people actually read 
it, they will see that it is not good for America and that the Chinese 
took us hook, line, and sinker.
  If I sound frustrated and angry, it is because I am. Even today, an 
hour before the deal is signed by the President, I have to use phrases 
like ``appear to'' and ``according to reports'' because the 
administration has shrouded the details of the agreement in secrecy and 
kept the text of the deal under lock and key. The Trump administration 
doesn't want the details of the agreement to come out before they can 
spin it because it knows that once the details come out, everyone will 
see that China has taken President Trump to the cleaners. President 
Trump, the great negotiator, has been totally out-negotiated by 
President Xi.
  Just like on impeachment, the President and his team are afraid of 
the truth. They don't want anyone to see the facts or the truth; they 
just want to spin. If the Trump administration were proud of this deal, 
they would hold it up to the world and shout it from the mountaintops. 
Instead, they have kept it hidden. They want to spin it, but they can't 
spin away the fact that this deal is a bad deal for American workers, 
American companies, American jobs, and American wealth. Even today--the 
day the agreement will be signed--we have been told we may not get all 
the details.
  Given the absurd secrecy surrounding President Trump's phase one 
trade deal, I expect that once everyone gets to take a look at it in 
the light of day, they will find that the administration has signed one 
of the most tragically one-sided agreements in recent memory.
  Even the farmers--President Trump sold out the structural changes to 
try to help the farmers--when they look at the specifics, they are 
going to see that

[[Page S208]]

they are a lot less than meets the eye and that our farmers will 
continue to suffer.
  It was an opportunity to secure real reforms to China's rapacious 
trade and industrial policy. President Trump may have just squandered 
it indefinitely--a severe and potentially irreparable loss for the 
American people, American businesses, American workers.
  Given how poorly trade deal one was executed with China, I have 
virtually no faith that trade deal two, if it ever comes about, will be 
any better. In fact, most Americans should fear it if it is anything 
like this one.

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