Washington, D.C.— Today, U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (KY-06) cosponsored the bipartisan Documenting Adversarial Trade Aggression (DATA) Act. This bill establishes a China Economic Data Coordination Center within the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Center would serve as a one-stop shop for information on China’s economic health and work in coordination with federal agencies and the private sector to collect and consolidate data on China’s financial markets. This legislation was introduced by U.S. Congressman Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16) in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) in the U.S. Senate.
“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the threat the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses to the United States,” said Congressman Barr, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia and Nonproliferation. “Requiring the Commerce and Treasury Departments to develop metrics to track the CCP's economic data, investments in the U.S., as well as the destructive Belt and Road Initiative will better inform policymakers as we work to better position the U.S. against the CCP. I commend Congressman Gonzalez for leading this legislation in the House."
“At the core of our U.S. led international system is a fair and free global market. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has proven that they cannot be trusted as they consistently seek to undermine the Free World,” Congressman Gonzalez said. “The economic data the CCP continues to circulate is unreliable and manipulated, hurting American investors and everyday business owners alike. This bipartisan and bicameral legislation will ensure the U.S. government and American investors have reliable data that can be used to measure and assess any risks linked to China’s economy.”
“China has reported misleading data and obscured systemic problems within its financial system for years, putting American companies engaging in international business at risk,” Senator Wicker said. “By establishing a China Economic Data Coordination Center within the Department of Commerce, this legislation would protect American companies from the CCP’s misinformation by exposing gaps in official data and providing a centralized clearinghouse for everything the U.S. government knows about the economic health of China.”
Additional cosponsors are: Congressman French Hill (AR-02), Congressman Michael Waltz (FL-06), Congressman Dean Phillips (MN-03), Congressman Colin Allred (TX-32), and Congresswoman Haley Stevens (MI-11).