[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12485]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 TRADE

  Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, Mr. President, on the issue of trade, according 
to reports, the Trump administration is preparing an open investigation 
into China's trade practices, focusing on economic espionage and the 
theft of intellectual property.
  I certainly applaud the sentiment. I have been decrying for years how 
the Chinese have been taking advantage of us in a way that has sent 
trillions of dollars of American wealth to China and millions of jobs 
to China so we should certainly go after them. The problem is, we don't 
need another investigation to know what China is up to. That is what 
the President called for: Let's investigate--another investigation.
  It is clear what China is up to. By dumping counterfeit and 
artificially cheap goods into our markets, denying U.S. companies fair 
access to its markets, and relentlessly stealing and exporting 
intellectual property of U.S. companies, China, as I said, has robbed 
the U.S. economy of trillions of dollars and caused the loss of 
millions of good-paying U.S. jobs.
  Estimates by our own government--already made estimates; we don't 
need a study, President Trump--pin the cost of cyber espionage alone at 
$400 billion a year to the U.S. economy--$400 billion a year, and 90 
percent of it comes from China's Government. This is not a benign 
process. This is not some rogue company. This is the Chinese 
Government.
  Here is what our four-star general, Keith Alexander, the former 
Director of the National Security Agency and commander of the U.S. 
Cyber Command said. He called the loss of industrial information and IP 
through cyber theft ``the greatest transfer of wealth in history''--the 
greatest transfer of wealth in history.
  That pains me--this country, with its entrepreneurial vigor, with its 
acceptance of people from all corners of the globe for centuries to go 
work hard and create good things, China is stealing it. They are not 
doing it on their own. Every American, when they hear that statement, 
it should make them cringe. It makes me cringe almost every day.
  Those are the facts. So I would say to President Trump: We don't need 
another study that takes months and months to complete while no action 
is taken. We need a plan of action now.
  Unfortunately, this is what the Trump administration is doing on all 
issues of trade. They really talked tough on the issue of steel and 
aluminum dumping. As someone who has aluminum plants in the State up 
there in Massena--Alcoa--and all along Lake Ontario--what used to be 
called Alcan is now called Novelis--I know the issue of aluminum 
dumping. It hurts jobs in my State. The President early on talked 
tough, tweeted tough on illegal steel dumping, illegal aluminum 
dumping, but it is 7 months into this administration, and we are still 
reviewing its effects on our economy.
  The administration failed to secure any deal with China in a number 
of forums, and they continue to delay on action that was promised in 
June. Tough talk and tweets are cheap, but strong and decisive action 
on trade is required. American workers have waited too long for our 
country to crack down on abusive trade practices that rob our country 
of millions of good-paying jobs.
  Today, I am proud to announce that the Democratic Party will be 
laying out our new policy on trade, which includes, among other things, 
an independent trade prosecutor to combat trade cheating, not one of 
these endless WTO processes that China takes advantage of over and over 
again; a new American jobs security council that will be able to review 
and stop foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies if they are likely to 
have a detrimental effect on U.S. jobs; penalties for Federal 
contractors that outsource jobs; stronger ``Buy American'' rules; and 
an outsourcing tax on companies that leave the United States.
  On the issue of NAFTA negotiations, we are laying out a set of tough 
principles that must be a bottom line for any new NAFTA text. I voted 
against NAFTA in 1994. That was 23 years ago. We have seen how it has 
hurt us in so many ways. There have been some benefits, but overall the 
loss of jobs is painful. More jobs and higher wages have to be our 
guiding principle, and it needs full transparency with workers and the 
public at the table, not just corporations.
  So I hope the administration--and I always said when I heard Donald 
Trump campaign that my views on trade are probably closer--I am closer 
to his views than I was to either President Obama's or President 
Bush's. I hope he will listen to us and work with us. These are good 
things to do. We can do them quickly. We can save jobs, create good-
paying jobs. But I say to the President: We don't need another 
investigation, another study that languishes for months and maybe even 
years. We need strong, bold action on trade, and Democrats will offer 
those strong bold ideas later this morning.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.

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