US Needs Intense Focus to Protect Key Dual-Use Items, Ex-Official Says

U.S. trade policy toward China should concentrate on protecting advanced technology, as opposed to completely decoupling from the Communist country, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Jan. 30.

“The most important thing we can do is make sure to protect the high-end, dual-use materials,” Pompeo testified before the House Select Committee on China. “This should be the place we should focus intensely in the near term, and we should shut not just part of it down but all of it down."

For other items that aren't advanced technologies, such as "beach balls and blankets and the like, [that’s] a more complicated problem set," Pompeo said.

Pompeo, who served during the Trump administration, criticized the Biden administration’s recent decision to remove China’s Institute of Forensic Science (IFS) from the Commerce Department’s Entity List. Although the administration reportedly took IFS off the list in mid-November to encourage China to stop producing and exporting fentanyl precursor chemicals (see 2311160003), and while Commerce officials said in December that the Chinese government had become more helpful, at least initially, in stemming the flow of fentanyl to the U.S. (see 2312120070), Pompeo said he doesn't expect China to improve its behavior on precursors.

“I think the likelihood of [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping delaying precursors for fentanyl moving into our country is precisely zero as a result of that action,” Pompeo said. “He has been determined to continue to poison our children here at home.”

Pompeo and Leon Panetta, who served as defense secretary during the Obama administration, both testified that they’re concerned about plans by China-based Gotion to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Green Charter Township, Michigan. Panetta said the factory could be used to conduct espionage or other activities harmful to the U.S. “These plans are deeply dangerous to our national security and ought not be built,” Pompeo said.

Turning to the Biden administration’s recently announced pause in pending decisions on liquefied natural gas exports to address climate concerns (see 2401260070), Panetta said he hopes the U.S. ultimately does not curb LNG exports to allies. “I think it is very important to be able to provide that kind of fuel to our allies, for goodness’ sakes,” he said.

Panetta endorsed an assertion by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., that the price cap on Russian oil sales has failed to choke off revenue to Moscow and that sanctions should be imposed on Russia instead. “I think you’ve made a very good point and that’s what we should be doing,” Panetta said.

Following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Group of Seven nations imposed a $60/barrel price cap on Russian oil (see 2212050014). Supporters say the cap has kept the global oil market stable while restricting the Kremlin’s revenue.