Yellen says US will not accept its industries being decimated by cheap Chinese imports

BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned on Monday that the United States would not accept new industries being decimated by subsidized Chinese imports in the same way that the U.S. steel sector was crushed a decade ago.

After wrapping up four days of talks with Chinese officials, Yellen told a news conference the exchanges had advanced American interests.

She said she had raised concerns about China’s weak domestic demand and overinvestment in industries such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar products, fueled by “large-scale government support.”

She added, “We’ve seen this story before. Over a decade ago, massive PRC government support led to below-cost Chinese steel that flooded the global market and decimated industries across the world and in the United States,” employing the formal name, the People’s Republic of China.

“I’ve made it clear that President Biden and I will not accept that reality again.”

Yellen said that when the global market is flooded with artificially cheap Chinese products, “the viability of American and other foreign firms is put into question.”

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)