Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) introduced bipartisan legislation to help American businesses compete with Communist China. The Strengthening Exports Against China Act would incentivize economic growth by eliminating barriers for American businesses competing directly with China in emerging industries like artificial intelligence and semiconductors. Companion legislation has been introduced in the House by Representatives Young Kim (R-Calif.) and Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio).
“The Chinese Communist Party provides massive subsidies and financing for businesses in emerging industries. To remain competitive, the United States needs to do more to support innovative businesses here at home,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “My bipartisan legislation will support more American businesses directly competing with China to help them make breakthroughs in AI, critical mineral mining and processing, and other transformational areas.”
“It’s time for fair competition on the global stage,” said Senator Rounds. “We must level the playing field for U.S. exporters when they’re up against firms backed by the Chinese Communist Party’s opaque financing. The Strengthening Exports Against China Act would allow the Export Import Bank to increase export financing and insurance support to U.S. firms that export products in direct competition with China.”
The Export-Import Bank (EXIM) creates American jobs by promoting and financing exports. The China and Transformational Exports Program (CTEP) was established on a bipartisan basis in 2019 to counter Chinese export subsidies and financing while advancing U.S. innovation and export competitiveness in 10 Transformation Export Areas, including AI, 5G, energy efficiency, and semiconductors. Unfortunately, the CTEP is struggling to scale up due to the rules governing EXIM financing. Under current law, if EXIM projects reach or exceed a two percent default rate, the Bank must immediately freeze all lending. This default rate cap poses a significant challenge to EXIM’s ability to support U.S. exporters in emerging, less established fields. The Strengthening Exports Against China Act would eliminate the default rate cap for exporters covered by the CTEP program to help them better compete directly with PRC rivals.
The full text of the legislation can be found here.
Senator Cortez Masto has led efforts in Congress to strengthen our national security and supply chains. She has consistently blocked burdensome taxes on mining and wrote important provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to bolster Nevada’s critical mineral supply chain. She’s also introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen the domestic supply chain for rare-earth magnets, which are critical components of cell phones, computers, defense systems, and electric vehicles, but are almost exclusively made in China.
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