Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement after the U.S. Trade Representative’s office announced plans to withdraw longstanding U.S. negotiating proposals that promote high-standard digital trade provisions, undercutting U.S. global competitiveness, and surrendering America’s digital trade leadership to China.

“The Biden Administration’s decision to walk away from longstanding bipartisan positions on digital trade undermines American leadership and competitiveness, surrenders the playing field to the Chinese Communist Party, and abandons our closest trading partners. There is absolutely nothing in the Biden Administration’s decision that will benefit American workers. Moreover, if the Administration does not reverse course and support high-standard digital trade provisions like those included in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, American businesses that serve customers around the world will have to risk handing away their competitive advantage and storing data on unreliable, unsecured servers such as those of Chinese companies like Huawei.

“This foolish approach is part of a broader, misguided policy of the Biden Administration to circumvent the will of Congress with a go-it-alone approach to trade policy. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address these concerning developments, particularly given ongoing negotiations. “