US weighs emergency powers to curb China technology investments

WASHINGTON:The THE US IS REVIEWING THE POSSIBLE USE OF A LAW KNOWN AS

THE INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POWERS ACT

treasury department of the United State is considering using an emergency law to curb Chinese investments in sensitive technologies, as the Trump administration looks to punish China for what it sees as violations of American intellectualproperty rights.

The US government is reviewing the possible use of a law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, said Heath Tarbert, an assistant secretary in the agency’s international affairs office. Under the 1977 IEEPA law, President Donald Trump could declare a national emergency in response to an “unusual and extraordinary threat,” allowing him to block transactions and seize assets.

Trump is pushing his administration to crack down on what he considers unfair trade practices by China. He has threatened tariffs on as much as $150 billion in Chinese imports in response to intellectual property theft and forced technology transfer. Beijing has retaliated by proposing tariffs on $50 billion of American goods, and pledging further action if necessary.

The president asked treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin to consider investment restrictions on Chinese firms after the administration released the results of its probe into China’s IP practices last month.

Beijing fired back forcefully on Friday. “The US is thinking and acting like a bully—only it can have high tech and others cannot. With regard to the high tech restrictions, they are citing the reason of national security, but their motivation is protectionism. Is the US really that fragile?” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily briefing.

Mnuchin has until around May 21 to propose executive action to address concerns about investments in the US “directed or facilitated by China in industries or technologies deemed important,” according to the March 22 presidential memo.

While investors have so far focused on Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on Chinese imports, new restrictions could deepen a slowdown in Chinese investments in the US since Trump took office.