US will not let Chinese imports destroy new industries, says Yellen

But she stops short of threatening new tariffs or other trade actions against Beijing

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US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned China on April 8 that Washington will not accept new industries being decimated by Chinese imports as she wrapped up four days of meetings to press her case for Beijing to rein in excess industrial capacity.

Dr Yellen told a press conference that US President Joe Biden would not allow a repeat of the "China shock" of the early 2000s, when a flood of Chinese imports destroyed about two million American manufacturing jobs.

But she declined to threaten new tariffs or other trade actions should Beijing continue its massive state support for electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and other green energy goods.

Dr Yellen used her second trip to China in nine months to complain that China's overinvestment has built factory capacity far exceeding domestic demand, while fastgrowing exports of these products threaten firms in the US and other countries.

She also drew parallels with the pain felt in the US steel sector in the past.

"We've seen this story before.

Over a decade ago, massive PRC government support led to belowcost Chinese steel that flooded the global market and decimated industries across the world and in the United States," she told reporters, using the abbreviation for the People's Republic of China.