US lawmaker Darrell Issa nominated for trade post soon after calling out China at economic forum
Issa, a Republican who is not running for re-election, would lead the US Trade and Development Agency if confirmed
The US lawmaker who has been nominated to lead a United States trade agency harshly criticised China at a major economic forum, another sign of the heightening tensions between the world’s largest economies.
The rhetoric by Darrell Issa, a California Republican representative who is not running for re-election in November, was considered unexpected even though he has a history of being a tough China critic.
He made the remarks on Wednesday during a hastily arranged press conference at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, northeastern China, soon after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged to ensure equal treatment for foreign companies, a move seen by some US business representatives as undiplomatic at a time when China and the US are fighting a trade war.
At the news conference, Issa and a fellow US representative, Todd Rokita, voiced strong support for the Trump administration’s trade confrontation with China and called on Beijing to stop “stealing and cheating”.
Soon after they expressed the criticism, the White House said Issa was being named to head the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), a post that requires Senate confirmation.
One of the agency’s tasks is to help companies create jobs through exporting US goods and services.
A US business representative said Issa’s remarks at the economic forum reflected those of some of the US Congress’s more hawkish members at the time when there have been discussion in Washington about decoupling two economies.