China is Dumping Fiber Optic Cables in the U.S. Market, Commerce Official Says

China is using the same tactics it employed to drive down the price of telecommunications equipment from Huawei to flood the US market with fiber optic cables—crucial underlying infrastructure for fifth-generation networks—a senior Commerce Department official said. "China is currently driving massive overcapacity in critical sectors including steel, aluminum and optical fiber cables,” said Nazak Nikakhtar, Commerce’ assistant secretary for industry and analysis. In the case of steel and aluminum, the administration has imposed tariffs on imports from China under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which allows for such action if the Commerce Department finds there are implications for national security. Nikakhtar said such actions have never been taken before but are necessary because of the lack of structures in international law for dealing with non-market driven economies. “It’s unprecedented, some of the things that we’re trying to do,” she said. “We’ve never really developed the right tools and toolsets to deal with this. Look at overcapacity. We don’t have international laws that deal with overcapacity, so what does the U.S. try to do? ... We use Section 232 tariffs with steel and aluminum—two prime examples to prevent overcapacity from decimating U.S. industry.”