Ambassador to China Says 'Balance of Interests' Must Be Considered

U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said he hears a lot from farmers, ranchers and those in the fishing industry, and reminded those listening to a talk he gave at the Brookings Institution last week that about 20% of agricultural exports are sent to China.

"What makes this relationship complicated … is the fact that we're competing with China, but we’re also engaging China," he said. "We have to think of a balance of interests when we deal with China."

Burns said that the U.S. has a major trade and investment relationship with China, and the administration wants that to continue, "Just not in the realm that might help them leapfrog over us sometime in the next ten years in military technology."

He also said the U.S. doesn't want to have "undue reliance on critical materials and critical supplies" from a country that might use that dependency to coerce us.

He said that those sorts of inputs should be produced domestically, come from Mexico, or from Ireland -- "some trusted source."