The Trump administration has decided to rely on existing laws, being updated by Congress, to restrict Chinese investment in the U.S., dropping consideration of alternative approaches that would have allowed the White House to impose stricter limits on its own. Employing existing laws, rather than executive action, “is the best approach to protect U.S. technology,” a senior administration official said Wednesday morning, briefing reporters on the decision.
Officials had been considering invoking executive authority to impose a much tougher crackdown on Chinese investment—part of a broader administration effort to pressure China to alter its trade and economic policies—but appear to have bowed to complaints from U.S. businesses and members of Congress worried about the potential economic fallout from more extreme measures.
