Yellen warns of the geopolitical coercion from Russia and Communist China

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday (October 12th) that the global economy is facing a huge hurricane, and the United States is trying to support its supply chain and prevent geopolitical coercion from Russia, Communist China and other countries.

At an event hosted by the Bretton Woods Committee, Yellen said that Washington is working hard to deepen integration with the European Union and Indo-Pacific countries, including many emerging markets and developing countries, while building more redundancy in its supply chain.

We are well aware of the cost of Russia’s natural gas trade as a tool of geopolitical coercion, and we must reduce similar dependence in countries like Communist China. Yellen said, emphasizing Washington’s determination to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine and the initial blockade of the country’s food and energy transportation.

Yellen and other officials of the Biden administration also said bluntly that there is a need to reduce dependence on the Communist China’s supply chain and confront what they believe Beijing’s bad behavior in the global economy.

She said Washington has worked to reduce US companies’ “extreme dependence” on semiconductors from Taiwan and other technologies, including solar panels or critical components for electric vehicle batteries made in Communist China and a few other countries.