The U.S. maritime industry is “dangerously” reliant on China potentially opening the door for the Chinese Communist Party to gain access to critical American infrastructure, according to a new report from House Republicans.
In a report released Thursday, House Republicans on the Committee on Homeland Security and Select Committee on the CCP said that the use of Chinese manufactured equipment and technology at American ports jeopardized national security. The report specifically focused on Chinese-government owned ZPMC, a major manufacturer of cranes used at ports across the country.
“The evidence gathered during our joint investigation indicates that ZPMC could, if desired, serve as a Trojan horse capable of helping the CCP and the PRC military exploit and manipulate U.S. maritime equipment and technology at their request,” the committee said in a statement. “This vulnerability in our critical infrastructure has the potential to affect Americans from coast to coast.”
The report accuses ZPMC of leveraging cheap labor and subsidized steel to sell cranes around the world at non-competitive prices, flooding the world market. The lawmakers found that around 80% of ship to shore cranes used at ports in the U.S. come from ZPMC.
According to the lawmakers, ZPMC is owned by the China Communications Construction Group, which has had “significant involvement in militarizing the South China Sea.”
