US must work with Europe to slow China’s rate of innovation, says Raimondo

WASHINGTON – Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Tuesday said the United States would rally allies to increase pressure on the world’s second-largest economy, an approach that differs from the “America First” policies pursued by the President’s Republican predecessor Joe Biden, Donald Trump.

“America is most effective when we work with our allies,” Raimondo told CNBC’s Kayla Tausche in an exclusive interview. “If we really want to slow down the pace of innovation in China, we have to work with Europe.

“They steal our intellectual property, they don’t play by the rules. It’s not a level playing field. And so we have to keep our feet on the fire to make sure they do it,” she said. explained, adding that Beijing “does not respect the agreements they have made”.

When asked if Commerce would take unilateral action to combat the great power competition between the United States and China in shaping security practices and setting global trade standards, Raimondo again singled out his allies.

“We don’t want autocratic governments like China, writing the rules of the road. With our allies, who care about privacy, liberty, individual rights, individual protection, we must write the rules of the road. the road, ”Raimondo said. .

On Wednesday, Raimondo, alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, will represent the Biden administration at the first US-EU Trade and Technology Council, or TTC, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Biden’s team will meet with European Commission executive vice presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovski in the hopes of settling trade disputes, streamlining regulatory procedures and developing “rules of the road” for emerging technologies in the world. two sides of the Atlantic.

“We need to work with our European allies to deprive China of the most advanced technology so that it cannot catch up in critical areas like semiconductors,” Raimondo explained, adding that the Biden administration foresaw to deepen cooperation with Europe on export controls.

“We want to work with Europe, to write the rules of the road for technology, be it TikTok or artificial intelligence or cyber,” she said.

Last week, Biden met in person with the leaders of Australia, India and Japan at the White House to discuss common concerns about China’s growing military and economic influence. The leaders also discussed the progress of Covid-19 vaccines, technology cooperation and a free and open Indo-Pacific as China increasingly asserts itself in the region.

The meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad – as the Big Four Democracies are called – came just a week after Biden announced a new security pact with the UK and Australia, a move which angered Beijing.