New chairman is named for US House select committee on China

House Speaker Mike Johnson chooses Representative John Moolenaar of Michigan to head committee after its chair, Mike Gallagher, say he will leave Congress on April 19

Moolenaar, a five-term representative, has sponsored a bill to deny certain green energy tax benefits to companies connected to China and other ‘countries of concern’

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Representative John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican, has been named chair of the House select committee on China. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 3:32am, 26 Mar 2024

The US House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has a new leader: Representative John Moolenaar of Michigan.

House Speaker Mike Johnson named the five-term Republican congressman as the committee chair on Monday, just days after the committee’s current chair, Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, announced he would depart the House on April 19. Gallagher had earlier said he would not run for another term, but his declaration of an exit just weeks away surprised many.

Moolenaar, 62, is slated to serve at least until the end of the current congressional term on January 3, 2025. The select committee, which was established last year to develop a more comprehensive congressional strategy on China policy, would need to be reauthorised by the new Congress after the November elections.

In a statement, Moolenaar said he looked forward to working with Democrats and standing committees to “help our country prepare for the challenges we face from the Chinese Communist Party and win the competition against the CCP”.

Representative Mike Gallagher, Republican of Wisconsin, will be stepping down as chairman of the House select committee on China when he leaves Congress on April 19. Photo: Bloomberg

Moolenaar is the sponsor of the NO GOTION Act, a bill that would deny certain green energy tax benefits to companies connected to China and other “countries of concern”. He introduced the bill, which refers to one of China’s largest EV battery makers, Gotion High tech, after Michigan state legislators approved Gotion’s plans to build a US$2.36 billion electric-vehicle plant in the state’s rural Green Charter Township.

Gotion, whose US division is registered in California, first announced its Michigan project in 2022, promising to create more than 2,000 jobs in the next eight to 10 years. In return, the company was poised to receive US$175 million in state tax incentives.