“There is a nontrivial chance that we’re in a tariff-war quagmire for a long time with China.”
So declared former SEC Chair Gary Gensler in a recent interview, and that declaration appears to have received repeated support with age.
According to a formal letter sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Senator Rick Scott makes it quite clear that he is quite alarmed by the ongoing presence of various Chinese firms – among them Alibaba and JD – on American stock exchanges.
“For years, I have been sounding the alarm to prior SEC Chair Gary Gensler
Regarding the ongoing issues with Chinese companies listed on U.S. Exchanges. These companies consistently fail to meet the requirements of our markets – misleading
American investors and putting their investments and U.S. national security and
economic security at risk,” Scott detailed
“For years.”
In other words, Scott was unable to make any serious headway until recently.
Unfortunately, given the rate at which relations have deteriorated between states, it would appear that both nations are steadily preparing for a potentially prolonged standdown over the economy.
Which may well include delisting multiple Chinese companies that just happened to pop up on American exchanges.
And those companies have been able to nab a substantial portion of institutional investments.
Even Scott noted the vast size of these investments in his letter.
“The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) recently
reported that there are currently 286 Chinese companies listed on U.S. Exchanges with a total market cap exceeding $1 trillion,” Scott proclaimed.
In that case, little wonder China has attracted his attention!
What is especially amazing is the ease with which many organizations can seamlessly enter the American economy, with no issue at all.
Since January 2024, 48 of these Chinese
companies were newly listed on three of our U.S. Exchanges.3 With such a large amount of capital invested in those foreign-domiciled companies, failing to enforce the
accounting and disclosure standards required by the HFCAA poses potentially dire
risks to U.S. investors,” Scott brayed.
With respect, Senator Scott, the risks to U.S. taxpayers are likely to extend way beyond the realms of, you know, basic tax revenue stewardship for the nation.
Which Scott is likely well aware of, and precisely why he is all in favor of “America’s national security” at the expense of anything China has to offer, no matter how shiny it looks.
