Sen. Cramer Discusses Semiconductor Legislation, China on Kudlow

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined Fox Business' Kudlow to discuss his opposition to the semiconductor legislation on the Senate floor this week. He also highlighted the supply chain and national security implications of the Fufeng group's purchase of farmland near Grand Forks Air Force Base. Excerpts and full video are below.

On Opposition to the Semiconductor Legislation:

"This is really bad timing for this semiconductor [legislation]. Listen, the goal is noble. There's no question [with] supply chain issues--whether it's food, whether it's minerals, whether it's semiconductors, [or whether it's] pharmaceuticals--we are vulnerable to China. We ought to be doing more to be competitive or just put them out of business altogether… Trying to out-China China is not the way to do that. The way to do it is reopen our free market system, eliminate the regulations and the taxes that get in the way of the innovators, and then we can attract our own businesses back here. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act during the Trump era did exactly that. We had many, many of our corporations repatriate overseas dollars back to the United States when the incentives were turned to benefit the United States as opposed to other countries."

"Now, I'm all for EPSCoR funding. I like basic research. I do think the federal government has a role in some of this in the early stages where there might not be dollars spent. But we're well beyond that, particularly with the $52 billion plus $24 billion in tax credits specifically for corporate citizens who aren't even under the law, obligated to build or manufacture semiconductors in the United States. To be fair, the semiconductor industry is viewed by many--and not completely inappropriately, Larry--as a national security issue. But our advantage is our openness and when we become the subsidizer and try to out-subsidize our competitors around the world, we give up some of that advantage. Let's be hospitable to business. Every now and then we're going to have to take on China, but I think President Trump taught us the way: lower taxes, lower regulations, create the appropriate natural incentives to invest in the United States, and when necessary, put tariffs on things coming in from China as opposed to subsidizing our own companies."

"There are very loose definitions [in the bill]. We need to be more prescriptive at the legislative level and not turn over the details to the bureaucracy because they will only add to the burden, they will not make it better."

On Democrats' Reckless Tax and Spending Spree:

"We have inflation. We have a recession looming. And now the Democrats have an idea to tax not big corporations, but rather pass-through businesses. It's hard to come up with a dumber formula and what [the Democrats] have come up with."

On Fufeng Group's Farmland Purchase Near Grand Forks Air Force Base:

"[China doesn't] go anywhere [without using] some passive spying to collect data on people, steal intellectual property, [and] force technology transfer. In addition to that, Larry, if you just set that aside for a minute, the land grab itself. You've just talked about all the supply chain vulnerabilities. Well, food is one of them. We learned during the pandemic that China's ownership of much of the meatpacking in the United States made us vulnerable to price increases that hurt our ranchers, but it helped the packers. Now they want to buy up other farmland. When they get a supply they'll make some money with it for sure. They'll use that money for nefarious things, including hypersonic missiles and building out a navy. But in addition to that, they capture more of our food supply chain, which we ought to be protecting with everything we have. I'm glad to sell a lot of food to China and anybody else who wants to buy it. We grow more than we need. Exporting is a part of the free market. But what we ought not do is let them come in and buy it all up. Then [China controls] who gets it in a crisis."

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