In an interview with Margaret Brennan for CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Yellen made the comments while she was in Beijing.
If the administration places additional “restrictions on high-end technology sales” to the country, Brennan asked Yellen if she had “a sense of what the retaliation will be from China.”
One goal of her trip, she said, “was to explain that national security is something that we can’t compromise about and that we will protect, even if it harms our own narrow economic interests.” “But that we will make sure that they are transparent, specifically targeted, and well explained when we take such actions, which do have an impact on the Chinese economy.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM WAYNEDUPREE.COM
Regarding China’s decision to impose export restrictions on two minerals essential to the American economy and military, Yellen claimed that she had “certainly expressed concern.”
It’s unclear whether the Chinese actions were similarly narrowly targeted at their national security concerns, she said, adding that “our own actions are narrowly targeted to address national security concerns.” Therefore, this is a subject that I raised concerns about.
To “ensure that we don’t engage in a series of unintended escalatory actions that will be detrimental to our overall economic relationship with one another,” she claimed she went to China.