China

Floor Speech

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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 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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