Americans have long been taken advantage of by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The latest example of this is the investigation into China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) by the Department of Transportation Inspector General (IG). CRRC, owned and operated by the Chinese government, has profited off billions in American taxpayer money building rail cars for several cities across the United States.
The company was awarded a $138 million contract with Philadelphia to build 45 new rail cars, however, that project has been plagued with delays and hazardous production issues like “‘repeated failures of water-tightness tests,’ faulty interior panels, wiring issues, repeated brake test failures and ‘unsafe emergency exit windows.’”
In response to these allegations Representatives Sam Graves (R-MO), Rodney Davis (R-IL), and Rick Crawford (R-AR) asked the DOT IG to investigate whether CRRC was adhering to Buy American rules which require 70 percent of components be sourced from domestic manufacturers.
The result is an audit being conducted to assess how well Federal Transit Administration (FTA) oversees SEPTA’s compliance with Buy America standards as it relates to its contract with CRRC MA. This audit could potentially determine whether or not American taxpayers are getting what they paid for when it comes to these contracts.
Unfortunately, this isn’t likely going to be enough to stop future abuse from occurring as there is evidence that Chinese companies have already secured billions more in contracts across other major cities like Boston and Chicago. If allowed each one of those contracts will cost thousands of American jobs as every job created through these deals costs 3 – 5 additional jobs here at home according to Oxford Economics research.
It’s time we put an end to this type of foreign interference once and for all. It’s unacceptable that hardworking Americans are having their money used against them for China to benefit financially rather than our citizens. The investigation into CRRC needs to serve as an example that our government won’t tolerate any such behavior moving forward.
