Biden Should Take Chinese Trade Restrictions 'Up a Few Levels,' Former BIS Head Says
The Biden administration should continue to increase Chinese trade restrictions but has done a good job pressuring the country so far, said Nazak Nikakhtar, a former acting head of the Bureau of Industry and Security during the Trump administration. Nikakhtar recently told Nikkei Asia she and others were initially “nervous” that President Joe Biden would ease some restrictions but has been pleased to see a continuation of many of the same export control measures begun under President Donald Trump.
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“I'm actually elated to see the aggressive statements that are being made by the Biden administration,” Nikakhtar, now at Wiley, said. “What I'd like to see happen is a continuation of that, and even taking it up a few levels.” Nikakhtar previously said the U.S. may need to create new, stronger tools to penalize China and others, because they were easily able to evade restrictions imposed by the Commerce Department’s Entity List (see 2107290042).
Although observers have praised the Biden administration for taking a more multilateral approach to trade restrictions, Nikakhtar said the previous administration also worked closely with allies, especially regarding Huawei. The U.S. decision to impose unilateral trade restrictions under Trump has now made other countries more comfortable imposing their own measures, she said.
“I think we in the U.S. government got an incredible amount of quiet support from allies,” she said. “But, back then, no ally was willing to shoulder the unpopular responsibility of imposing national security measures like the U.S.” Without that public support, she said, the U.S. was forced to “move forward first and determine if allies would ultimately follow under our top cover. And we see now that this is exactly what is happening.”