NTF ISSUE PAPER: BOYCOTT GOODS ETC. FROM RED CHINA

NTF issue paper: consum7.doc. 5-20.
NEBRASKA TAXPAYERS FOR FREEDOM ISSUE PAPER:
BOYCOTT GOODS ETC. FROM RED CHINA.

BACKGROUND
. It is now an acknowledged fact that the COVID-19 virus originated in a Red Chinese military laboratory at Wuhan, China, and that sloppy procedures allowed this deadly virus to spread throughout the world, killing and debilitating millions of innocent people. Whether Red Chinese authorities deliberately intended this horrid virus to spread or whether they were simply indifferent to its contagion worldwide, they are responsible for the devastation to our U.S. economy and havoc wrought on our savings, investments, and job security. The Chicoms stopped travel within their own country while allowing infected persons to travel worldwide. Chinese secrecy and incompetence prevented the U.S. from preparing to fight the virus. While our country reels from this growing economic mayhem, Red China increases its naval presence in the South China Sea and expands its military muscle in Asia. It is time to retaliate against Red China for inflicting this virus on our nation. Weapons of choice are economic boycotting and accompanying measures.

CAPITOL HILL INITIATIVES
. Conservative Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.) urges Americans to boycott all Red Chinese products in retaliation for their hiding serious details of the virus. Purchasing Chinese goods supports a government that misled the world, and U.S. citizens die. Scott sponsors legislation to build a U.S. stockpile of anti-virus materials and equipment that Red China now supplies. This bill would require American resale companies like Amazon to post on their websites where products manufactured. We cannot remain dependent upon a hostile nation to provide us with the specific materials we desperately need to contain COVID-19. Recall that Red China also restricts its market to U.S. goods and steals our technology and military secrets. His proposal has bipartisan support. Sen. Chris Coons (Del.) wants Congress to offer incentives to U.S. businesses to bring their manufacturing back from Red China, particularly companies that manufacture needed medical supplies like face masks. Currently, the U.S. supply chain for medical equipment and pharma components relies on China. Such reliance is not an accident of globalization but a deliberate Chicom strategy to make biomedicine and expensive medical equipment a priority monopoly of Chinese exports. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (TN.) and Tom Cotton (Ark.) introduced bills to strip Red China of its sovereign immunity, which would render Beijing liable to lawsuits in American courts.  Conservative congressmen have asked Attorney General William Barr and Sec. of State Mike Pompeo to sue China in the International Court of Justice. However, legal remedies will succeed only if the U.S. utilizes aggressive measures that do not rely upon international courts and organizations or Chinese compliance.  Because Red China would not willingly accept adverse legal judgments from such courts, and because it is highly unlikely that Chicom courts would hold the regime liable for its wrongs done other nations, we must initiate unilateral legal action. The U.S. must deploy our sovereign powers to secure compensation and deter future wrongdoing.

CHICOM INTRANSIGENCE. Conservatives blame Beijing for publicly underestimating the terrible toll of COVID-19, especially the infection and domestic death rate, suppressing notice of the severity of the outbreak at its early stages, and lying about its origin. Critical medical information withheld, medical professionals attempting to alert the public and world threatened and/or silenced. An early whistleblower, a doctor in his thirties, subsequently died from the virus. China has hoarded protective supplies needed to prepare to combat the virus in order to wreak maximum damage on the West and pry concessions from nations in exchange for making supplies available. Chicom officials accuse the U.S. of wrongly shifting the blame to them and lie that the virus originated in the U.S.

DAMAGE DONE
. The overbearing Chinese role in producing personal protective equipment and pharmaceutical ingredients is a dangerous U.S. national security problem begging a solution. The COVID-19 epidemic has plainly shown the risk of relying on goods produced elsewhere. Several economists have estimated that COVID-19 has caused $4 trillion in economic losses here. A Nebraska Farm Bureau economist said that lost revenue will add to the current financial pressure on farmers in the state and hurt the entire state economy. Animals slaughtered on farms as packing plants close.

POPULAR OPINION
. According to a recent Harris poll, over 70% of Americans believe that Red China underreported virus outbreak effects, and over 75% hold that government responsible for its spread. A 2nd Harris poll showed more than 50% agree with President Trump that the new coronavirus is a “Chinese Virus.” 71% of Americans want to pull manufacturing back from China.

ACTIONS NEEDED
. Communist China wants this virus to destabilize the world, so that it can seize control. Red China has waged economic warfare against the U.S. for decades, using its mines and factories to destroy our industries. In response, decouple American business from the Chicom economy, now our 4th largest trading partner. U.S. companies can find alternative Asian markets. Remove Chinese stocks from U.S. stock exchanges and limit U.S. capital flows into Chinese stocks. Wall Street steers billions to Chicom-controlled companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges. Such helps these entities sell securities in the U.S. Billions flow through index funds that include shares of Chinese companies. We have outsourced too many critical aspects of our economy, especially to Red China. Restrict the import of Chicom goods and then encourage U.S. production of these items. A rule proposed by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce in December, 2019 would give it the right to “keep makers of technology products out of America’s information and communication technology (ICT) supply chain if they are under the jurisdiction of ‘foreign adversaries’… and pose an ‘undue risk to critical infrastructure or the digital economy.” Restrictions would seriously degrade Chinese efforts to develop alternative markets. Companies should clearly identify where products made and assembled and which components come from Red China. The Trump Administration is challenging the bureaucracy, providing loans and tax breaks and leveraging government buying to encourage more medical goods production in the U.S. The U.S. would gain quality independence from China by decreasing the presence of American companies and American supply chains there. Liberal critics have not proved that U.S. economic and security interests would suffer serious harm from retaliation. Stop funding scientific research in China. Pension funds from several states have risked the retirement savings of Americans on Chinese investments. The finance advisers overseeing the federal Thrift Savings Plan, the 401(k) plan for military personnel and federal workers, want to invest billions in the MSCI Emerging Markets Fund, home to a host of Chinese companies that manufacture weapons, cyber-espionage tools, and surveillance gear for the Chinese Communist Party. Eliminate all these economic ties. The Trump Administration should impose general tariffs on Chinese imports and restrict Chinese investment in the U.S., increasing the financial costs to China for its deliberate negligence toward the outbreak. 

DIRECT BOYCOTT. Buy New Balance athletic shoes instead of Nikes. Buy from our local farmers instead of Smithfield Foods, owned by a Chinese company. Do not allow Chinese Communists to control our food (Smithfield Foods), our media (AMC theaters, Universal, Disney), our energy, and our technology (Huawei, Lenovo). Our War of Independence began with boycotts of British goods following the Stamp Act, the Townshend Act, and the Tea Act. Our Founding Fathers understood that America would not become independent, if we relied on other nations for our manufactured goods. NTF calls on all consumers to boycott Red China and Chinese- made goods. Take a few extra seconds to determine country of origin before purchasing. Spend a few extra dollars to buy a product not Made in China and by so doing so, stop supporting a government that oppresses its people and seeks to dominate the world.  Boycott Chinese tourism.

STOP DEPENDENCE
. China should face significant economic penalties for the harm its leaders have inflicted. The U.S. should impose economic sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for the suppression of information about the coronavirus and on its industries that have benefited from the global response to the pandemic, such as medical equipment suppliers and pharmaceutical manufacturers.  The first virus drug shortages, because of dependence on China, have already occurred. 80% of American active pharmaceutical ingredients come from overseas, primarily from China. 45% of the penicillin used in the U.S. is Chinese-made, almost 100% of ibuprofen. Rosemary Gibson, author of China Rx, testified to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission about this critical dependence, but nothing has changed in this most vital supply chain (Beijing Fears COVID-19 Is Turning Point for China, Globalization, by Michael Auslin, March 18, 2020).1Trump and Congress must mandate that a significant percentage of major drugs, over the counter medicines, first-aid materials such as masks and gowns, and expensive medical equipment like ventilators, will become produced domestically, so that we can better prepare to counter the next pandemic. Supply chains that now run through China for pharmaceuticals or computer chips could re-route through more dependable sources like Ireland or Israel.  Controlling our own supply of vital medicines and equipment will allow us to assist other countries during similar emergencies, something we are not able to do with COVID-19 and of which Beijing is taking advantage.   American broader economic dependence on China must stop. Materials needed for U.S. high-tech industries such as rare earths, 80% of which come from China, we should produce at home or obtain from allies, and the U.S. military must decrease its reliance on Chinese transistors and tire rubber. 

HIT ITS POCKETBOOK
. Chicom investors now hold $1.1 trillion of U.S. Treasury securities, over 15% of foreign U.S. debt holders. Chinese state-owned enterprises have endeavored to buy American high-tech companies with strategic value.   Chinese companies and nationals have spent the last decade snapping up billions in real estate in American cities.  Chinese expansion into foreign property makes it vulnerable.  The U.S. should expropriate Chinese property here. Refuse to pay Red Chinese holders of U.S. debt. Trump should cancel Chinese-held treasury debt and use the proceeds to create a trust fund to compensate Americans harmed by the pandemic.  The Administration could claim that by cancelling Chinese holdings of U.S. Treasury debt, the U.S. is only recouping Chinese international debt cancelled by the Chinese Communist Party after it seized power in 1949. Though our nation usually stands to safeguard property rights abroad, it has resorted to similar methods during past crises.  American states cancelled British-held debts during the Revolutionary War, and under the Jay Treaty of 1796, the federal government ultimately paid compensation to those with claims against the British.  After the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the U.S. froze their government assets and used them to compensate Americans who lost property or businesses or who otherwise suffered financial harm from those governments.  In such circumstances, no compensation to the foreign asset holders was constitutionally due. If compensation given to those property owners, the very purpose of the expropriation would seem void.  China has placed its assets within our control. It would have to throw itself on the mercies of our courts for their return, a possibility that Congress could prevent by legislation.  Though China could respond with its own expropriations, it would harm itself more than us. The Chinese Communist Party depends on rapid economic growth to keep its population satisfied enough to remain in power. Seizure of foreign investments would lead to an end to the free trade and open markets that have made the Chinese remarkable economic rise possible.  It can seize the factories that assemble iPhones, but it cannot seize the intellectual capital that invents the technology and designs the devices. Those remain with the U.S. and its allies.  If China cannot innovate, to which the U.S. could add obstacles by blocking Chinese students and researchers from Western universities, it will have only factories designed to mass produce cheap goods.  Expropriations there would trigger a rapid economic decoupling that could leave China stuck in the mass production forms of the 20th-century economy, while the U.S. and its allies advance toward a more decentralized economy where decentralized enterprises, internet-based services, and 3-D printing can quickly transform intellectual creativity into goods and services.  Encourage U.S. companies to withdraw their subsidiaries from China and relocate them domestically. American companies have been deliberating about leaving China for many years now. Many U.S. corporations already reconsider their operations in China because of rampant intellectual property theft and rising production costs. They may seriously question how safe it is to continue to do business in China. Not only is the health of their employees at risk, but they no longer can feel assured of China as a stable supplier. Many will conclude that they must diversify away from China. In American markets, a decrease in demand for Chinese products was already occurring in 2019 because of the trade war between the two economic giants. Now that coronavirus has further incentivized companies to stop buying from China, we see a drop of 17% of U.S. imports of manufactured goods from there. Like Japan, Larry Kudlow, the White House National Economic Council Director and advisor to the President, advises Trump to follow a more direct departure from China. Kudlow favors an aggressive return policy, to cover the costs for businesses to return home. “I would say 100 percent immediate expensing across the board. Plant, equipment, intellectual property structures, renovations. In other words, if we had 100% immediate expensing, we would literally pay the moving costs of American companies from China back to the U.S.”

BAN STUDENTS. Red China provides the largest percentage of foreign students studying at U.S. universities. NE higher education institutions accrue a lot of tuition money from these students and relish it. However, most of these students return home and use their knowledge acquired in NE in the service of a hostile government, its military, or Chinese companies that compete with ours. Ban students from Red China and open their college slots to Nebraska youth from taxpaying families instead.

TAKE ACTION NOW
. Make Red China pay for inflicting COVID-19 on the U.S. and our families. Boycott all goods manufactured in Red China. Closely examine labels and tags on imported items when you shop. Lobby our congressional delegation to retaliate by utilizing the suggestions mentioned above and supporting punitive legislation. Email netaxpayers@gmail.com for congressional contact information and join our NTF Conservative Consumerism Project.

Research, documentation, and analysis for this issue paper done by Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom. This material copyrighted by Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom, with express prior permission granted for its use by other groups in the NE Conservative Coalition Network. 5-20. C

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