Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions ripped U.S. policy with China on Friday, and called the country America’s “greatest” threat.
Sessions discussed American trade policy with China in remarks at the American Economic Forum conference in Washington, D.C., and argued the U.S. has become too reliant on Chinese manufacturing. The U.S. is reliant on Chinese manufacturing for a number of goods, including semiconductors.
“We face a formidable opponent in China, and we need to take a series of steps to protect our interests against this nation who has a stake in our demise,” Sessions said at the event, put on by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. (RELATED: Big Business Fights Bill Intended To Stop Selling America Out To China)
“Somebody needs to represent the people of the United States and our manufacturing industry,” Sessions said. “We’re gonna have to wake up because they’re determined to take it over.”
Listening to former AG Jeff Sessions here at @ISI American Economic Forum #isiaef pic.twitter.com/Nnsr4uUghs
— Mairead Elordi (@JohnsonHildy) July 29, 2022
Sessions also criticized libertarian conservatives for supporting free trade policies, which he claims unfairly disadvantage Americans against China.
“I would say to my libertarian and free market friends—we don’t live in a free market world. They [China] are not free traders. None of them are, especially the Asians. The Europeans are pretty free trade but not as much as we. So we can’t sit here and watch our businesses and technology be eroded because of state manipulation.”
Sessions called on conservatives to take the threat of Chinese influence in the American economy more seriously.
“Maybe we can have a conference among conservatives on what we should do to protect the security interests of our country against whatever threats,” Sessions said, “but possibly the greatest one now is China.”
On Wednesday, the Senate passed a bill appropriating $280 billion to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing. Sponsored by Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Todd Young, the CHIPS act assigned $52 billion for domestic semiconductor manufacturing through 2025. The bill also includes $200 billion for the National Science Foundation and STEM education initiatives in U.S. schools.
The Chinese topped the list of overseas buyers of U.S. homes for the 10th consecutive year, according to a 2022 U.S. National Association of Realtors (NAR) report. China is the largest foreign buyers of American homes in terms of dollar value, according to NAR. In 2022, 46% of US land bought by international buyers was in suburban areas, and 19% was in rural areas.