Get the Facts: My Record on China

The Democrats’ false attacks against me continue to get more absurd and ridiculous.  Now they are blaming me for the inflation they sparked with their massive deficit spending and their war on fossil fuel.  In addition, they are making vague claims that somehow I’m “making it easier on China,” but here are the facts:

I voted against the Democrats’ “China Bill,” which is far too weak on protecting American intellectual property theft by the CCP, fails to hold China accountable for COVID-19, and includes billions of dollars in deficit spending.

In January 2022, even PolitiFact debunked the false claim by the Democrat Senatorial Committee that “Sen. Ron Johnson has been rewarding companies that outsource to China.” The attack cites only the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)– even though experts say there is no clear evidence that the law led U.S. companies to move jobs to China.  Instead, the small business tax cuts I made sure were part of the TCJA produced a record economy, and helped many small businesses survive the pandemic shutdowns. In addition, according to Strategas Research Partners, since the passage of TCJA businesses have repatriated $1.8 trillion in profits they were holding overseas. Those profits will now be available to reinvest in America.  

It’s no accident DC liberals are overlooking the fact that Senator Grassley and I are the ones that revealed the corruption and compromise of Hunter and Joe Biden because of their vast web of foreign financial entanglements which include millions of dollars of suspicious wire transfers from individuals connected to the Communist Party of China. I have been publicly outspoken opposing Joe Biden’s inexplicable cancellation of the Department Of Justice’s “China Initiative” – investigations designed to uncover and stop China’s theft of U.S. intellectual property from research universities. 

I introduced the Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act, which would relabel the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) China Initiative by correctly calling it the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Initiative.

I have also been publicly vocal about giving credit to President Trump for focusing on China’s cheating and trade abuses.  But dealing with those abuses is far from easy. Over the decades since China was admitted to the World Trade Organization, U.S. manufacturers have outsourced far too many strategic and crucial products overseas, including China. Semiconductors, precursor chemicals, and active pharmaceutical ingredients are some of the more important products that must be “re-shored” and manufactured in the U.S.   

During the 30 years I operated a manufacturing plant, I didn’t outsource jobs, I exported our plastic products to China. Now I’m supposedly soft on China and responsible for inflation? How ridiculous.   

The first step in solving any problem is admitting you have one. Then you have to properly diagnose the root cause to be able to address it. Unfortunately, politicians in both parties have used China’s trade abuses to demagogue against their political opponents without enacting effective solutions. Tariffs have increased the cost of products to U.S. consumers without making any significant difference in our balance of trade. The “China Bill” now being debated in Congress will spend $250 to $400 billion we don’t have, and other than further mortgaging our children’s future, I doubt it will do much good. 

Although complicated, the solution lies in organizing western economies to act together to demand that China abide by world trading rules and stop stealing the west’s intellectual property. We must also identify the key strategic products that must be manufactured domestically and provide incentives or enact U.S. content laws (for example, an agreed upon % of drugs purchased by Medicare must be 100% U.S. content), to make sure they are.  

A big problem we have in Washington D.C. is that there are very few bureaucrats, congressional staff, and members of congress that have any experience in or knowledge of the private sector. As a result, they know how to spend money we don’t have and mortgage or children’s future, but they don’t have a clue how to solve this kind of problem.   

Let’s be honest, dealing with China is a devil of a problem. You can rest assured that I will use my private sector experience in analyzing and addressing it, and I will always tell you the truth and be forthright with you.  The ridiculous false attacks ads against me will only get worse. To date, Democrats and their dark money groups have spent $70 million on ads that lie, distort my record, and engage in the politics of personal destruction. I will need to raise a lot of money to counter their attacks and would appreciate any financial support you are willing to offer.