Bill Evanina, former director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), said that China should "brace itself" for U.S. policy addressing issues such as cyberattacks and fentanyl under the next administration. Evanina shared his statement in a November 7 post on X.
"China should indeed brace itself," said Evanina. "Recent unabated cyber breaches/intrusions of US critical infrastructure/corporate entities (Volt/Salt Typhoon) as well as the fentanyl epidemic will be addressed. Inflicting costs on the CCP with multi-faceted deterrence strategy is critical."
According to AP News, China is preparing for potential renewed tensions with Donald Trump over trade, technology, and Taiwan. During his campaign, Trump expressed support for imposing tariffs of 60% on all Chinese goods exported to the United States. These tariffs could further destabilize China's economy, which is already facing challenges such as government debt and high youth unemployment rates. Trump also mentioned that if China invades Taiwan, he would impose tariffs on China as high as 200%.
Reuters reported that Trump said during his campaign he would use tariffs as a measure against the export of fentanyl precursors from China to Mexico and the trafficking of fentanyl from Mexico into the United States. "Every damn thing that they sell into the United States is going to have like a 25% (tariff) until they stop drugs from coming in. And let me tell you something, those drugs will stop so damn fast that your head will spin," Trump said.
In June, Trump commented during the All In podcast about his belief in a "reciprocal" U.S.-China trade relationship, according to Federal Newswire. "I think we should have a Reciprocal Trade Act," he said during the podcast. "If China is going to charge us a hundred percent tariff on a car, then we should say, 'You gotta pay 100 percent to us.' The Reciprocal Act is, I think, a very important thing…they do things to us, and we should do things to them. Basically, it should be reciprocal." The concept of "reciprocity" has garnered bipartisan support among policymakers including U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Chuck Schumer.
Evanina served as director of the NCSC from 2014 to 2021 and founded the Evanina Group in 2021 where he currently serves as CEO.
