During an interview aired on Tuesday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Mad Money,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stated that there was “a little bit of progress” from President Joe Biden’s meeting with Xi Jinping, but she keeps hearing from CEOs “that it’s getting harder to do business in China,” and that she wasn’t surprised to hear that cybersecurity companies reported Chinese hacking hasn’t decreased at all after the meeting.
Host Jim Cramer said, “So, let’s discuss what happened at your dinner in San Francisco, because I was hoping that there would be a cessation of what I would regard as being ill-advised acts by the Chinese. But I’m not sure there has been.”
Raimondo responded, “Yeah, well, we weren’t hoping for magic, Jim. We were just hoping for a little bit of progress. And I think we got a little bit of progress. President Biden had, I think, a very productive, constructive, candid, direct discussion with President Xi. I was able to be part of that meeting. I spent hours with my counterpart. And we said to them, listen, action speaks louder than words. President Xi and his minister said to us they want more foreign direct investment, they want U.S. companies to do business there. We said to them, show us, don’t tell us, show us. Don’t rip off our I.P., have a regulatory environment that’s fair and not arbitrary and capricious, don’t target U.S. companies. And so, we began the dialogue, which is a good step. Nothing good will happen if we don’t even talk. We’ve seen a little progress. You saw the VMware acquisition by Broadcom approved, you see Mastercard being allowed to do business there, expand their digital business. But we have a long way to go, Jim. And I think they need to show us that they’re serious that they want us to do business there. And that means protecting I.P.”
Cramer then said “Madam Secretary, what I’m concerned about is, for instance, right after the dinner, we spoke with Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike, those are the two most sophisticated companies in terms of cybersecurity. And both of them said there is actually no let-up whatsoever in hacking after that dinner.”
Raimondo responded, “I can’t say that I’m surprised. I do hear from CEOs. I meet with a couple of CEOs every week who have either just come back from China or call me or are thinking of going, and they report similarly that it’s getting harder to do business in China, not easier. But we’re not going to let up. Jim, as you know, I’m a dog on a bone. U.S. business deserves an advocate. They deserve a fair shake. We’re not asking for any special treatment. We just want a level playing field. And we’re going to keep making the case.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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