Rubio Says Chamber and US Companies Lobby for China

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., criticized business interests as more allied with Chinese interests than with American ones, and said that even as a Uyghur Forced Labor bill was expected to advance in the House, it wasn't much closer to becoming law.

Rubio, a China hawk, spoke to an audience hosted by American Compass, a new conservative think tank that shares many of Rubio's views.

Rubio, who prevented a series of votes for amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act over the decision to not give his Uyghur Forced Labor Act a spot on the must-pass bill, said that "some of the most powerful people in business and government are working to make sure my Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention bill never becomes law."

He said these interests "believe that making sure American consumers have access to iPhones and sneakers is so important that even if it means relying on factories that are filled with slaves," the imports must continue.

In a Q&A after his speech, Rubio said that initially corporate voices against the bill were pretty open. "They were arguing that ... you can't do it, it's going to hurt supply chains... ." But he said then they realized those arguments were not popular, and the lobbying went under the radar.

He cited press reports (denied by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) that Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is asking for a slow walk on the legislation. "I understand exactly what's going on here. They're afraid it's going to anger China, and it's going to screw up the ability to do a climate deal with them, or to import solar panels," he said, adding sarcastically: "Who cares if they're made by slaves? We need more solar panels."

Rubio said that it's good that the House of Representatives was planning to vote later on Dec. 8 on Rep. Jim McGovern's Uyghur Forced Labor Act, but said that his version has had jurisdictional problems in the Senate in past years, as several committees said they had to weigh in on the language.

"What you see is a bunch of people in the House and Senate who are all desperate to vote for a Uyghur Forced Labor bill that will never become law. In essence, let's vote for something, but then let's make sure we vote for it in a form that impedes it from ever becoming law," he said, though he said McGovern, D-Mass., is acting in good faith.

Rubio argued that capitalism as practiced in America is corroding American society, as corporations chase lower priced manufacturing at the cost of Americans' jobs. He said it was a mistake to let China into the World Trade Organization. "Why was it a mistake? Because it was rooted in a flawed assumption. The assumption that global economic integration was more important than anything else. More important than dignified work for Americans. More important than our ability to make things. And more important than our national security," he said.

"There is nothing inherently evil or wrong with greater profits for corporations and better returns for shareholders. But those things by themselves are not a good way of measuring the strength of our economy and the well-being of our people," he said. "Because lower prices alone can never make up for the fact that you lost the stability and dignity that comes from a good paying job."

Rubio, whose parents fled Communist Cuba, said, "When you have an economy where wealth is being generated in a way that is divorced completely from the well-being of a people ... It gives an opening to argue that capitalism is inherently unfair and repressive."

But he said even as manufacturing jobs moved to cheaper locales, hollowing out communities and leading to a rise in opioid abuse and people giving up on work, the gospel of free trade still has adherents.

"There are still very influential and powerful people and voices who cling to the failed consensus that brought us to this point, hoping the growing awareness of this danger we face is just a short-term movement, a populist fad that will soon fade," he said. He cited the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's arguments to roll back the Section 301 tariffs, and the 91 votes in the Senate for the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill as proof of that.