Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) issued the below statement on March 22 in response to the president’s announcement of $60 billion in tariffs against China:

“Technology transfer and intellectual property are real concerns within the U.S. business community. These concerns have been raised with China for years, and unfortunately, China has done little to address them,” said Larsen. “I do not agree with the president’s approach to target China specifically with additional tariffs and risk retaliation. Putting forward trade proposals that threaten the economic stability of businesses across the U.S. is not the right choice. The U.S. has better tools to more cooperatively work with China including reinvigorated negotiations on a Bilateral Investment Treaty.”

China is Washington state’s largest trade partner. In 2016, Washington state exported $16.5 billion in goods to China, a 300 percent increase from 2005. Last year, $2.2 billion in exports to China traveled through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Congressman Larsen is the co-chair of the U.S.-China Working Group, a group focused on educating Members of Congress and their staff on U.S.-China issues through meetings and briefings with academic, business and political leaders from both countries. In a recent speech at the Brookings Institution, Congressman Larsen laid out a strategy on how the on how the U.S. must both compete with China and further cooperate with China.