The United States must take action against China’s "nefarious influence on national and economic security," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a Thursday Washington Post opinion piece.
"The United States can no longer afford to blindly accept the Chinese economic grand bargain," Rubio wrote.
The senator said that China offers two "contradictory faces" on trade, with one promising equitable trade and commerce, but the other showing China’s true goals. Rubio noted that China abolished term limits, effectively making President Xi Jinping "president for life."
China is targeting U.S. manufacturing with a plan to dominate global exports, including artificial intelligence technology, new-energy vehicles, and robotics, Rubio wrote.
Rubio said that he plans to introduce a bill, the Fair Trade With China Enforcement Act, that would ban the sale of intellectual property and sensitive technology to Chinese companies, and it would impose an upper limit on the amount of ownership Chinese investors can have in American corporations.
Another part of the legislation would set up a withholding tax on Chinese entities that earn investment and dividend income in the U.S. "The goal is to discourage Chinese behavior seeking to devalue currencies, price out American exports, and drive capital imbalances that make our economy weaker and less stable," the senator wrote in The Post.
The senator’s bill also would set up duties on Chinese capital goods and raise taxes on foreign income of corporations that enter "joint ventures" with Chinese firms, Rubio wrote in The Post.
"The Chinese government and Communist Party are playing the long game and we should, too. We must protect American workers from China’s economic attacks," the senator wrote.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.