THE HAGUE—U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on June 3 that the United States is seeking to “level the playing field” with China after decades of unfair trade practices.
Pompeo made the remarks after meeting Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok, with whom he also discussed security threats relating to new 5G telecommunications networks.
Pompeo defended President Donald Trump’s policy of imposing new trade tariffs on Chinese goods, saying: “We are simply trying to level this playing field and when we do so I am confident both nations will be successful.”
Speaking earlier on the sidelines of a U.S.-Dutch entrepreneurship conference in the Netherlands, Pompeo said Trump wanted to ensure that Chinese and U.S. companies were doing business on equal terms.
“We’re very concerned that Western companies, American companies and others that enter the Chinese markets aren’t treated the same way that Chinese companies are treated when they enter those Western markets,” Pompeo said.
“It’s not open trade when a company can come here and invest in the Netherlands and when a Netherlands company wants to invest in their country they’ve got to submit their information to the Chinese Communist Party.”
“We’ve been clear: Our ask is that our allies and our partners and our friends don’t do anything that would endanger our shared security interests or restrict our ability to share sensitive information,” Pompeo said.
Blok said that while the Dutch want to align policies with their allies, every country must make its own security decisions.
“A team of experts is looking into the safety considerations surrounding the 5G auction,” he said, adding that changes in the 5G auction process could be announced as soon as this summer.
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