The US does not want to retaliate, Yellen said.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has criticized Beijing for using subsidies to create a competitive advantage for key emerging industry manufacturers and distorting the global economy. She revealed plans to pressure China on this issue during her visit to China in 2024.
In an interview, Yellen pointed out that no other country in the world provides subsidies to priority industries as much as China does. China aims to ensure that these industries truly dominate globally.
Yellen specifically mentioned Beijing's massive support for electric vehicles, batteries, and solar energy companies. She said it is important to make the Chinese side understand why the United States has such concerns, Bloomberg reported.
"We see, of course, the same concerns in Europe, for example, but I don't want to get into retaliation," Yellen said. "We want to see what we can do that's constructive," she added.
Yellen said the US has previously mentioned the issue of overcapacity in discussions with the Chinese government. She intends to bring it up as a major issue during her next visit to China, she added.
Yellen expects to conduct her second visit to China since the resumption of high-level diplomatic contacts between the United States and China.
Yellen stated the US sees overcapacity in new industries such as solar energy, electric vehicles, and lithium-ion batteries. China's industrial overcapacity harms American companies and workers, as well as companies and workers in other parts of the world, she added.
