Congressman John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), stated that the U.S. needs to strengthen its capacities in critical sectors such as semiconductor manufacturing to compete with China. Moolenaar shared his statement during a June 26 hearing titled "From High Tech to Heavy Steel: Combatting the PRC's Strategy to Dominate Semiconductors, Shipbuilding, and Drones."
"Our national task is clear," said Moolenaar, according to Select Committee on the CCP. "We need to revitalize our domestic industries, and those of our allies so we can become an arsenal of democracy once again. We must ensure a reliable domestic supply of semiconductors outside the reach of the CCP, rebuild our shipbuilding, and clear our skies of Chinese-made drones."
According to Moolenaar’s remarks, the U.S. should improve its industrial capacity due to China’s rise as a competing industrial superpower. China has made advances into critical industries such as semiconductors, shipbuilding, and drones. He said the "U.S. accounts for one-tenth of one percent of global shipbuilding while Chinese shipyards, with nearly 20% of their operating costs subsidized by Beijing, account for 54%." Moolenaar also noted that the Chinese firm DJI controls approximately 80 percent of the U.S. commercial drone market.
Moolenaar stated during the hearing that the U.S. should "install market access barriers" to prevent Chinese companies from dominating the U.S. domestic economy.
The Countering CCP Drones Act, first introduced by Representative Elise Stefanik, requires telecommunications and video surveillance or services produced by Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovations Sciences and Technologies Company Limited (DJI) on a list of communications equipment determined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to pose a threat to U.S. national security.
Moolenaar represents Michigan’s Second Congressional District and is the current Chairman of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the CCP. He is also Michigan’s senior member of the House Committee on Appropriations.
