Barr calls out American businesses for compromising while chasing profits from China

Attorney General William Barr on Thursday condemned U.S. businesses for compromising American principles while chasing profits from China.

Barr during a speech at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Michigan warned about the Asian super power's ambitions and the tactics it uses to achieve its aims.

"The People’s Republic of China is now engaged in an economic blitzkrieg — an aggressive, orchestrated, whole-of-government (indeed, whole-of-society) campaign to seize the commanding heights of the global economy and to surpass the United States as the world’s preeminent technological superpower," Barr said.

"It is clear that the PRC seeks not merely to join the ranks of other advanced industrial economies, but to replace them altogether," he said. "If you are an American business leader, appeasing the PRC may bring short-term rewards. But in the end, the PRC’s goal is to replace you."

The attorney general said that while doing business with China has failed to soften the country's authoritarian regime, it has had negative results as some American businesses seek to appease China in order to retain the ability to do business there.

"As this administration’s China Strategy recognizes, 'the [Chinese Communist Party's] campaign to compel ideological conformity does not stop at China’s borders.' Rather, the CCP seeks to extend its influence around the world, including on American soil," he said. "All too often, for the sake of short-term profits, American companies have succumbed to that influence—even at the expense of freedom and openness in the United States."

Barr pointed to Hollywood for taking actions to appease the Chinese regime. He also called out technology companies, saying that organizations "such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple have shown themselves all too willing to collaborate with the CCP."

"The American people are more attuned than ever to the threat that the Chinese Communist Party poses not only to our way of life, but to our very lives and livelihoods," he said. "And they will increasingly call out corporate appeasement."