A Key Congressional Committee Lays Out Red Lines As U.S.-China Talks Continue

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party warns against giveaways as the Trump administration continues to negotiate.

A few days ago President Trump announced the United States and China had extended their tariff truce for another 90 days while the two sides continue talks toward reaching a larger deal. An important congressional committee is weighing in now, detailing its red lines for any “Phase II” China deal.

“Today, President Trump is once again securing major trade and investment wins with our allies and partners,” reads a Thursday social media post from the GOP-led House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. “As negotiations with the CCP move forward, any Phase II deal must protect BOTH America’s economy and our national security.”

The post then lists the committee’s priorities and red lines framed around those interests.

For context, think back to the Phase I deal. That U.S.-China agreement was reached during the first Trump administration, and amounted to a number of promises made by the Chinese side to purchase commodity, manufacturing, and energy products. Ultimately, they fell short of their commitments.

When Phase I expired at the end of 2021, Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) President Scott Paul wrote that any Phase II “must be transformational rather than transactional,” addressing issues like chronic Chinese industrial overcapacity and the litany of unfair trade practices.

That’s the same position AAM took when the Trump administration announced its first 90-day tariff pause a few months ago, after the United States and China had ratcheted up tariffs again. “The president should not make a deal of convenience with China. Instead, he should withstand the business pressure, engage Congress, phase in permanent tariffs on Beijing, invest in our industries, and enlist our allies in deleveraging China’s grip on strategic industrial sectors,” Paul said in a statement.

Ninety days later, and with a new pause in place, that holds true today. The United States doesn’t need a deal with China for the sake of a deal; it needs a deal that is enforceable, verifiable, measurable, and sustainable. You can read the whole statement from the select committee here.