The Biden Administration is planning to scale back planned regulations that would have cracked down on American investments in China, even despite rising tensions between the two nations.
According to Politico, at least five anonymous sources “with knowledge of the White House discussions” said that Biden will not sign the executive order as originally planned; instead of outright restricting such investments, the new order will instead simply attempt to increase the transparency of such deals.
American investments will still be banned from at least one Chinese industry – that being the semiconductor manufacturing industry – but will still overall be allowed to invest in China’s economy, including the tech sector. Under the new order, American firms will be required to notify federal authorities whenever they attempt to make deals in industries such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence. The new order will most likely be signed in either late March or early April.
In response to these reports, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council rejected the characterization of the new plans as a reversal, and also denied the accuracy of reports regarding the new executive order.
“The premise of this story is false, and its characterization of the planned requirements of an outbound investment program is inaccurate,” said Saloni Sharma. “This administration has, from the beginning, focused on formulating an approach that addresses national security risks stemming from outbound investments in a way that is implementable and effective – and has a greater impact on the [Chinese government’s] efforts to acquire sensitive capabilities than it has on the competitiveness of American companies.”
The new order would be far tamer than proposals that have been made in Congress, where China hawks have proposed measures that could outright ban attempted American investment deals in such Chinese industries as artificial intelligence, microchips, quantum computing, and green energy, among others.
Relations between China and the United States have been strained for many years, but have drastically worsened in recent months after a Chinese spy balloon flew over the entirety of the continental United States, drawing widespread criticism over China’s invasion of U.S. air space, as well as Joe Biden’s reluctance and ineffectiveness at dealing with the problem immediately.
Biden’s about-face on the would-be restrictions also raise questions about his family’s documented business ties in China, as well as other countries such as Russia and Ukraine, that have seen family members such as his son Hunter and his brother James make multi-million-dollar deals in foreign countries by using his name and political influence to secure such deals.