Commentary

Whoever wins the presidency this month, the new administration will likely continue the first Trump administration’s policies toward China.

As demonstrated by the Biden administration over the past four years, which has expanded upon the Trump administration’s efforts to level the playing field with China, a second Trump administration or a Harris administration would continue to combat China’s rampant intellectual property theft, forced labor, and unfair trade and economic practices through sanctions, tariffs, and other means.

While the past eight years have witnessed some successes in checking communist China’s aggression, there has been little to no movement in curbing its pollution, which is yet another example of an unfair trade advantage that the country enjoys.

Despite all the promises from its leaders, China still accounts for more than a third of the world’s emissions output. By comparison, the United States’ footprint has declined by 11 percent.

Some reports assert China’s greenhouse gasses may finally be falling, but most experts remain wary due to Beijing’s ongoing lack of transparency in reporting.

During this same time, ironically, China’s “green” exports—from solar panels to cheap solar garden lighting—have soared, and China now produces more than half of the world’s green technology. This has been possible partly due to its continued reliance on dirty energy and cheap and/or forced labor. China’s global dominance in green technology has been fueled by the very environmental concerns it professes to uphold.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) knows that its environmental record, or lack thereof, is a weakness. In 2018, Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned that China’s failure to address climate may be an “excuse” for “hostile forces” to destabilize the Party.

Hence, to great fanfare in the spring of 2021, when President Joe Biden hosted the first Leaders Summit on Climate, Xi stated, “We need to ride the trend of technological revolution and industrial transformation, seize the enormous opportunity in green transition, and let the power of innovation drive us to upgrade our economic, energy, and industrial structures, and make sure that a sound environment is there to buttress sustainable economic and social development worldwide.”

Beijing released its “Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change,” a 73-page regurgitation of Party jargon, littered with Marxist phrases such as “nature-based solutions” shortly thereafter. These actions portend Xi’s thinking: any real accountability on the part of the world has the potential to cripple China’s economy. China, therefore, contributes its so-called wisdom to the environment, especially with countries in the Global South, where its fantastical exploits find fertile ground rather than address its less-than-stellar record.

China’s dominance in green tech has recently elicited a new response from the United States and Europe, namely the use of tariffs on many of China’s exports, such as electric vehicles, batteries, and critical minerals. The Biden administration’s latest executive actions underscore the growing concern that China will continue its drive to secure vital markets while eluding environmental reform.

While well-intentioned, a more effective policy than the administration’s blanket tariffs would be targeted pollution import fees. Rather than levy tariffs on industries, a pollution-focused tariff would penalize imported goods that are increasing emissions output globally. The result would be two-fold.

First, the money collected by Washington could be redirected to cleaner manufacturers in the United States. Not only would this save taxpayer dollars, but it would also provide U.S. companies with the time to establish a broad green technology industrial base.

Second, it is imperative to invest in the United States, ensuring China does not take advantage of this $215 trillion economic opportunity for its own military benefit. The United States can leverage its advantages over China to accomplish this: to boost energy at home with permitting reform, unleash private capital, and work with allies and partners on economic security. A bureaucratic, communist, increasingly isolated China would not be able to compete. Combining this with smart trade policies will help ensure American hegemony in the future.

Such trade policies, focused on pollution, would deprive the offending nation, such as China, of resources that may later be channeled into military buildup that could one day be used against the United States. For example, China’s navy now numbers 370 ships, with more than 100 of those having been built in just the past decade. The U.S. Navy, meanwhile, plagued by outdated manufacturing facilities and a recalcitrant industrial base, has fallen under 300.

Too many want to believe the CCP’s narrative to “promote harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.” But one needs only to review the data to understand Xi’s empty promises. More pollution equals more revenue, which equals more ships. China’s continued abuses of the global economy must end at U.S. shores.

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