US Trade Chief: New Legal Tools Needed to Combat Future China Threats

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai testifies during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2022 for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on April 28, 2021. Sarah Silbiger/Pool via AP

WASHINGTON—The United States needs new legal tools to hold the Chinese Communist Party to account for anti-competitive threats against key American high-technology industries, to update existing tools that react once harm is done, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Thursday.

Tai told a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee hearing that existing trade law tools are more aimed at protecting U.S. industries and companies after they have already been injured by illegal price dumping and subsidies or other unfair competition.