There’s little doubt that China is brazenly attempting to influence U.S. culture. Whether it’s sweeping cyberattacks and the hacking of sensitive information, or subtler efforts to entrench Chinese products and services in everyday life, Beijing is looking to erode America’s economic strength and national security.
Consider that many venerable U.S. companies have been acquired by Chinese multinationals over the last 20 years. Chinese entities have also acquired equity or operational stakes in more than 100 strategically important shipping ports worldwide. And more than 380,000 acres of American farmland are now under Chinese ownership.
The Trump administration recognizes that China is trying to seize key U.S. assets. And it’s already prioritizing domestic American manufacturing. In addition to reshaping international trade, the president must now block China’s influence over advanced infrastructure, computer networks and emerging technologies here.
The challenge is enormous. To better understand China’s ambitions, look no further than the typical U.S. household. The explosive growth of smart appliances means that millions of connected devices have been installed in homes nationwide. And many of these appliances are manufactured or controlled by foreign companies.
GE Appliances was once a shining example of U.S. industry. However, it was sold to China-based Qingdao Haier in 2016. That means a Chinese multinational now controls 20 percent of the U.S. home appliance industry. Today, only one of the top four appliance brands sold in the United States — Whirlpool — is American-owned.
Particularly worrying is that Haier, which is now the parent company of GE Appliances, has developed a “U+ Connect” platform. That allows Haier to collect data through all connected GE Appliances and Haier-connected products.
It’s a clever tactic for a Chinese-owned company. It’s also necessary, since Beijing implemented legislation in 2017 forcing Chinese companies to store their customer data in China. The legislation also gave Beijing broad access to this data.
If current geopolitical tensions were to increase, China could exploit its access to millions of appliances in U.S. homes. Thermostats, space heaters, refrigerators, ovens and laundry machines — all of which are increasingly connected to the internet — are among the top consumers of household energy. A coordinated hacking effort to surge energy use for these appliances could cause anything from an inconvenience to a debilitating attack on local electric grids.
The United States has no standardized system to evaluate these risks. As a result, most Americans are largely unaware of the potential security threats sitting in their kitchens and laundry rooms.
In August, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., introduced legislation directing the Department of Commerce to investigate and assess potential security risks posed by high-wattage, internet-connected devices.
This is an important start. But Washington must also encourage the growth of domestically manufactured appliances and equipment. That would not only create good middle-class jobs but also begin the process of reversing China’s dominance over Americans’ household products.
A key step would be to legislate transparent product labeling. America’s consumers need to make informed purchasing decisions to avoid products that run on connected apps based in China. And they need to know when their data is being collected or their home appliances are being remotely accessed.
The federal government also must use its purchasing leverage. Given the risks posed by consumer appliances connected to foreign-controlled apps, the U.S. government should halt further purchases of these products until it can fully investigate potential vulnerabilities.
It made news recently when President Trump announced a deal to sell a controlling stake in TikTok’s U.S. operations. The controlling shares were sold to a new U.S. entity, a move that could halt one of China’s most visible efforts to influence American culture.
However, Beijing is hard at work establishing other levers to hack into Americans’ daily lives. Many of these threats now lurk quietly in their homes. The long-term answer to preserve American sovereignty is to double down on U.S. manufacturing and domestic companies. That’s the only sure means to shore up the foundations of America’s national security.