First appeared on FOX: Republican Rep. Michelle Steele has introduced legislation that would block China and other American adversaries from accessing U.S. ports.
Steele, a California Republican and member of the House Select Committee on China, introduced the Port Security Act, which would ban companies wholly or partially owned by state-owned enterprises of China, Russia, North Korea or Iran from operating or managing U.S. ports.
Steele told Fox News Digital that access to US ports could allow adversaries to damage US supply chains by giving them access to shipping infrastructure.
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Steele said the bill “will strengthen America's economic and national security against threats from Communist China and its allies.”
Rep. Michelle Steele (File)
“Congress must protect America's supply chains by restricting hostile governments' high-level access to our ports,” Steele told Fox News Digital. “Countries that threaten America's very existence should be denied easy access to our port infrastructure, which is a critical lifeline for our supply chains.”
Steele's home base in Southern California is home to two of the largest ports in the United States: the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Republican Rep. Michelle Steele has authored a bill aimed at blocking China and other American adversaries from accessing U.S. ports. (Joe Raedl/Getty Images/File)
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Steele's office told Fox News Digital that several Chinese conglomerates are active in U.S. ports, including on the West Coast, including China Shipping Corp. (COSCO) on the West Coast and China Petroleum & Food Corp. (COFCO) on the Mississippi River.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and Russian President Putin (Sergey Bobylev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via Associated Press/File)
The bill is co-sponsored by Representatives Stephanie Bice, Ken Calvert, Rick Crawford, Richard Hudson, Doug LaMalfa, Nicole Malliotakis, James Moylan, Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, John Rutherford and Randy Weber.
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The bill was introduced after national security and defense officials last year began viewing giant cargo cranes at U.S. ports as tools for Chinese espionage. Officials have suggested Chinese equipment and cranes at ports could be used for surveillance.
