China Threat

In this conversation with Tom Keene of Boomberg Surveillance, Keith Krach discusses his first hand experience with China’s "weapons of mass production."

Tom Keene: Keith Krach is without question, the most qualified person in Washington within the Trump administration to speak on technology. Well, we know this because Mr. Krach grew up with a father with a welding gun in his hand. It is well understood that if your father’s a welder, you have a different view of life. Of course, affiliated with Purdue University. Mr. Krach serving the president as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment. Keith. Good morning. Welcome to Bloomberg Surveillance. I want to talk to you about what we know about Chinese technology.

Can you tell us, do we have knowledge that the engineering and technology of Chinese products are actually a threat to Americans?

Keith Krach: Well, Tom, first of all, thanks so much for having me back. It’s good to be back on your show. You know, we do. And, you know, you talked about my background growing up in Ohio. You know, I was able to see first-hand from my father’s small machine shop — the implications for weapons of mass production. When I was a vice president at General Motors, I could see that if you built a plant over in China, you were just giving your blueprints. You were teaching the process engineering and you were training their people. And then after 30 years in Silicon Valley, I’ve had my intellectual property stolen multiple times. It’s the reason why I came to the United States State Department to serve the country. And now, from what I see from this vantage point, it is way worse than I could have ever imagined.