By NC Senator Ted Alexander 

Taking China head-on has become a boilerplate speech for politicians vying for their seats these days, but not many have put their words into action like Senator Tom Tillis (R-NC) has this Congress. What’s more, Senator Tillis has been campaigning to hold China accountable for years now, putting forth a plan at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when it became obvious that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had engaged in one of the largest cover-ups in modern history. Senator Tillis was tough on China back in 2020, and with the support of the Fighting Trade Cheats Act, RESTRICT Act, and the ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act, he’s showing North Carolinians that he remains tough on the threats emanating from the communist country.

The CCP has been seeking to expand its influence culturally, economically, politically, and militarily for years now. To achieve its ultimate goal of becoming the number one superpower, they have been targeting U.S. technology and obtaining our personal information. This has warranted concerns that one major source for this data could be the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok. As a collector of more user personal data than any other social app and also being used by nearly 41 percent of Americans in 2022, we ought to be concerned that this app could be a tool weaponized by the CCP. 

We’ve already taken important steps here in North Carolina to protect our state’s technology and cybersecurity infrastructure by banning the use of the app on state phones and other devices. The federal government has also taken similar action to fill the gaps where our data privacy could be compromised. Seeing that there are still live wires around cybersecurity threats, however, Senator Tillis co-sponsored two critical bills – the ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act and RESTRICT Act – that have the chops to rein in China-based spyware apps and protect our data against other foreign countries of concern that have taken pages from the CCP’s book on electronic espionage. 

The TikTok issue poses a national security threat to our entire country, but one issue that’s significantly impacting businesses and workers here in North Carolina is China’s continual violations of trade agreements. By dumping foreign-made goods in the U.S. market at unfair prices, the Chinese are creating an unfair playing field and putting American companies at a competitive disadvantage. These trade cheats had created unneeded headaches for North Carolina-based Charlotte Pipe & Foundry when they flooded the market with cast iron pipe fittings between 22 and 360 percent less than fair market value, robbing the company of much-needed business. 

Fortunately, the Administration at the time empowered the company to take legal action against the CCP, a case which they ultimately won. Millions of other American companies that have found themselves in similar circumstances, however, don’t have the same legal recourse. We can’t preach about bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. if we’re not willing to provide them with the resources to fight back against the bad actors that are making it nearly impossible to compete. The Fighting Trade Cheats Act is a necessary measure that would empower American companies to take action against foreign trade cheaters.  

China is as brazen as ever about undermining our economic and national security. This surmounting threat should be reason enough for lawmakers in Congress to work across the aisle and pass the above legislation. Senator Tillis is taking bold action to protect American companies, workers, and our national security. It’s time for his colleagues to follow afoot.