The House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday advanced a raft of China-related sanctions bills, a sign of increasing hawkishness in the Republican-controlled chamber amid strained relations between Washington and Beijing.
(Bloomberg) — The House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday advanced a raft of China-related sanctions bills, a sign of increasing hawkishness in the Republican-controlled chamber amid strained relations between Washington and Beijing.
The approval of the bills moves them toward a likely House floor vote. The bipartisan nature of these bills suggests they could have a shot of passing the Senate and being signed by President Joe Biden later in the year, depending on the state of relations with China.
“We know China is not an ally or a strategic partner. They are a competitor,” said Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican.
Among the China-related bills the committee approved with strong bipartisan votes are:
- H.R. 554, which would allow the Treasury Secretary to bar Chinese officials and their families from receiving services from US financial institutions
- H.R. 510, which would pressure the International Monetary Fund to oppose an increase of the Chinese renminbi in Special Drawing Rights
- H.R. 803, which directs US officials to exclude Chinese officials from meetings of the G20 and other bodies
- H.R. 540, which directs US officials to support Taiwan membership in the IMF. This also was referred to the Foreign Affairs Committee
- H.R. 1156, which requires Treasury to issue a report on the economic risks from the Chinese financial sector
- H.R. 839, to pressure the IMF to advocate for more transparency from China on its exchange rate
Separately, the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday will vote on a bill that would allow the administration to ban TikTok in the US if certain findings are made. Democrats on the committee plan to oppose the bill because they argue it could be applied too broadly to other companies.
The committee also plans to vote on H.R. 1151, aimed at holding China “accountable” for the surveillance balloon that drifted over the US this month. The bipartisan bill, authored by Democrat Gregory Meeks of New York, would require a report on the balloon incident and says the president may impose visa restrictions and block property transactions in response, powers that Biden already has.
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