OPINION: Let’s reward American businesses and hold China accountable

With gridlock growing across our country, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that there are many issues where there is meaningful agreement across the political spectrum. Rural economic development, more competitive businesses, responsible resource development and clean air and water — these are all shared priorities in a state as diverse as ours. That is why we urge Congress to accomplish all of the above by holding countries like China to the same pollution standards we have in the United States.

Why? The U.S. has led the world in innovating the clean, cutting-edge technologies of tomorrow. Our country has eliminated more carbon emissions than any other nation in the last 15 years and boasts an economy that is 44% more carbon efficient than the world average.

From energy production and mining, to steel and electronics manufacturing, America’s workers create the highest quality goods on the planet while emitting less pollution than other global producers.

However, as our friends in these industries will share, our businesses are being overtaken in international markets by our economic rivals — China in particular.

After decades of careful planning, China has become the world’s factory floor due to extremely low costs of production and a white-knuckled grip on global supply chains. To put it in perspective, demand for critical minerals such as graphite, lithium, and cobalt is expected to rise 500% by 2050 alone; as of 2019, China produced 85% of the world’s rare earth oxides and 90% of rare earth metals.

Herein lies the problem: China enjoys its competitive edge because they have successfully exploited, manipulated, and cheated the system with few repercussions. Tight supply chains are the intended, artificial result of export quotas and bans designed to preserve their market dominance.

Equally artificial are their low production costs, which China sustains by subsidizing their industries and abusing modern labor and environmental standards. Today, China emits more pollution than the rest of the developed world combined.

This type of unfettered pollution takes a toll on Alaska’s own water and air quality, which is hurting Alaskans right now. Lead contaminants from China have been detected from Denali National Park to our Arctic communities, and their industries are also a major source of sulfate-based air pollution that is damaging Alaska’s forests, fisheries, snowpack, and wildlife — not to mention human health.

China has repeatedly proven that it will stop at nothing to expand its economic dominance, which is why it is time for the U.S. to put its foot down and demand accountability for the damage they are causing. Considering the enormous gap between our two countries’ pollution efficiency, leveling the playing field for our cleaner businesses is perhaps the lowest-hanging fruit.

Doing so could come in the form of enacting a foreign pollution fee, which would levy a fee on imports based on the amount of pollution emitted to produce them. An approach already being implemented by our allies, this would reward American manufacturers for their advancements while putting the U.S. in the driver’s seat of a coordinated global response to China’s unfair practices.

Alaska would particularly benefit from a more even market. Oil and gas production in the Last Frontier — the bedrock of our economy — is among the cleanest in the entire world. Moreover, in non-energy mining and processing — a $1.6 billion Alaskan industry — we emit less than half the pollutants that China does to extract the same minerals.

For the rural communities that have been especially left behind by China’s assault on global production, a foreign pollution fee would be a game changer that boosts Alaska’s resource industry while reinvigorating America’s lost industries and bringing our supply chains home.

This solution is quickly gaining momentum in Congress, and we support these efforts. More importantly, we encourage and support our Congressional Delegation’s engagement on this issue. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has joined a bipartisan group led by Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Chris Coons , D-Del., that directs the U.S. Department of Energy to study the carbon advantage key U.S. industries, including domestic oil and gas production, have over key trading partners. This is an important first step. We also believe Sen. Dan Sullivan is uniquely suited to lead on a foreign pollution fee due to his strong track record of opposing the Chinese Communist Party’s malign influence.

There are few issues in politics with such broad, overlapping benefits as sending a clear message to China that it can no longer pollute with impunity. A foreign pollution fee is our ace in the hole, and with as much to gain as we do, Alaska should help lead the charge.

State Sen. Cathy Giessel is an Anchorage Republican and majority leader of the Bipartisan Coalition. State Rep. Zack Fields is an Anchorage Democrat.

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