US \u2018cannot ignore national security implications\u2019 of supplying China with nuclear technology any longer, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said<\/b>
\nThe United States said Thursday that it will increasingly restrict civilian nuclear exports to China as President Donald Trump vowed a hard line on trade, bluntly warning not to think Americans are \u201cstupid\u201d.
The US Energy Department said it would make it more difficult to ship nuclear technology to China, one of the few growing markets for new plants as the Asian economy tries to meet rising electricity demand through low-carbon sources.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry said that there were \u201cnational security implications\u201d to continuing the trade, but an insider said that the government is concerned by Beijing\u2019s strategy \u201cto acquire nuclear technology to gain economic advantage\u201d.
\u201cThe United States cannot ignore the national security implications of China\u2019s efforts to obtain nuclear technology outside established processes of US-China civil nuclear cooperation,\u201d Perry said in a statement.
The measures are the latest salvo in a widening US drive to pressure China, with the Trump administration recently slapping $250 billion in tariffs.
The Energy Department said it would not end exports to China but would show greater scrutiny and that there \u201cwill be a presumption of denial\u201d for new licences related to the state-owned China General Nuclear Power Corp.
The company was indicted last year along with a naturalised US citizen on charges of conspiring to develop sensitive nuclear material with US know-how without going through the required approval process.
The US already carefully reviews nuclear exports through the Energy Department\u2019s so-called Part 810 authorisations, which verify if the technology goes to peaceful use and will not be sent to a third country.
\u201cFor decades China has maintained a concerted, central government-run strategy to acquire nuclear technology to gain economic advantage,\u201d a US official said on condition of anonymity.
The United States last year shipped US$170 million in nuclear exports to China, according to official figures. A 2017 Commerce Department report ranked China as the second largest market for US nuclear exporters, second only to Britain.
\u201cWe understand that the US industry may suffer in the short term from this decision,\u201d the official said.
\u201cHowever, China\u2019s concerted effort to emulate and displace US nuclear products could cause the permanent loss of global markets and domestic jobs in the long run,\u201d he said.
Former president Barack Obama in 2015 signed off on an extension of nuclear cooperation between the United States and China, with his administration arguing that Beijing had moved to tighten controls as part of renewal negotiations.
Relations between the world\u2019s two largest economies have soured sharply, however, with Trump earlier Thursday vowing to inflict economic pain on China if it does not blink in a trade war.
\u201cThey lived too well for too long and, frankly, I guess they think that the Americans are stupid people. Americans are not stupid people,\u201d Trump said in an interview on Fox and Friends.
The mogul-turned-president boasted that his tariffs had already \u201chad a big impact.\u201d
\u201cTheir economy has gone down very substantially,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a lot more to do if I want to do it. I don\u2019t want to do it but they have to come to the table.\u201d
Trump is pressing China to improve trading conditions for US products and to end what US businesses say is widespread theft of their intellectual property.
China has responded by imposing counter tariffs, which the Trump administration alleges show political interference by targeting products from key states in next month\u2019s congressional elections.
The International Monetary Fund this week cited the trade war as it lowered its 2019 growth forecast for China, which is set to see its slowest expansion since 1990. The IMF also lowered estimates for the United States and the global economy as a whole.
Trump renewed his charge that past presidents Obama and George W. Bush \u201clet China get out of control\u201d through the massive US imports of manufactured goods.
\u201cWe have helped rebuild China more than any other factor. We have helped rebuild it. I said it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n