GreenergyDaily

Sep. 15, 2025

U.S. Democrats have asked the Trump administration to press China to curb "structural overproduction", essentially overhauling Beijing's economic model, Reuters reported, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent holds talks with Chinese officials in Spain.

Democratic members of a House of Representatives committee on China said any bilateral trade deal should include "binding requirements" on Beijing to reduce industrial overcapacity, according to a letter they sent to Bessent and other top trade officials on Friday and seen by Reuters.

Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, addressed in the letter along with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, began talks in Madrid on Sunday with a Chinese team.

"The PRC's historic and destructive use of structural overproduction to drive economic growth comes at an indisputable cost to U.S. industry, employment, and the stability of international markets," says the letter.

Overcapacity should be addressed in the talks, the letter says, citing China's steel and solar panel industries as examples where a massive expansion of supply was followed by waves of exports that undercut jobs and industry in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The administration should also capitalise on the angst those exports cause for allies and partners, and work with them to construct an international response to China's overcapacity, the letter says.