WASHINGTON – The United States said Thursday that it will increasinglyrestrict civilian nuclear exports to China as President Donald Trump voweda hard line on trade, bluntly warning not to think Americans are “stupid.”
The US Energy Department said it would make it more difficult to shipnuclear technology to China, one of the few growing markets for new plantsas the Asian economy tries to meet rising electricity demand throughlow-carbon sources.
“The United States cannot ignore the national security implications ofChina s efforts to obtain nuclear technology outside of establishedprocesses of US-China civil nuclear cooperation,” Energy Secretary RickPerry said in a statement.
The measures are the latest salvo in a widening US drive to pressure China,with the Trump administration recently slapping $250 billion in tariffs.
The Energy Department said it would not end exports to China but would showgreater scrutiny and that there “will be a presumption of denial” for newlicenses related to the state-owned China General Nuclear Power Corp.
The company was indicted last year along with a naturalized US citizen oncharges of conspiring to develop sensitive nuclear material with USknow-how without going through the required approval process.
The US already carefully reviews nuclear exports through the EnergyDepartment s so-called Part 810 authorizations, which verify if thetechnology goes to peaceful use and will not be sent to a third country.
“For decades China has maintained a concerted, central government-runstrategy to acquire nuclear technology to gain economic advantage,” a USofficial said on condition of anonymity.
The United States last year shipped $170 million in nuclear exports toChina, according to official figures. A 2017 Commerce Department reportranked China as the second largest market for US nuclear exporters, secondonly to Britain.
“We understand that the US industry may suffer in the short term from thisdecision,” the official said.
“However, China s concerted effort to emulate and displace US nuclearproducts could cause the permanent loss of global markets and domestic jobsin the long run,” he said.
Former president Barack Obama in 2015 signed off on an extension of nuclearcooperation between the United States and China, with his administrationarguing that Beijing had moved to tighten controls as part of renewalnegotiations.
Relations between the world s two largest economies have soured sharply,however, with Trump earlier Thursday vowing to inflict economic pain onChina if it does not blink in a trade war.
“They lived too well for too long and, frankly, I guess they think that theAmericans are stupid people. Americans are not stupid people,” Trump saidin an interview on “Fox and Friends.”
The mogul-turned-president boasted that his tariffs had already “had a bigimpact.”
“Their economy has gone down very substantially,” he said. “I have a lotmore to do if I want to do it. I don t want to do it but they have to cometo the table.”
Trump is pressing China to improve trading conditions for US products andto end what US businesses say is widespread theft of their intellectualproperty.
China has responded by imposing counter tariffs, which the Trumpadministration alleges show political interference by targeting productsfrom key states in next month s congressional elections.
The International Monetary Fund this week cited the trade war as it loweredits 2019 growth forecast for China, which is set to see its slowestexpansion since 1990. The IMF also lowered estimates for the United Statesand the global economy as a whole.
Trump renewed his charge that past presidents Obama and George W. Bush “letChina get out of control” through the massive US imports of manufacturedgoods.
“We have helped rebuild China more than any other factor. We have helpedrebuild it. I said it s over.” – APP/AFP