Why Trump dropping China cyber theft demands may be a ‘catastrophic’ mistake

New concerns emerged Wednesday over a report that the Trump administration may be considering dropping cyber theft demands in the latest China trade talks.

Spieckerman Media President Lee Spieckerman told FOX Business Wednesday it would be a "catastrophic" mistake for the U.S. to drop these demands given the way China handles data.

"What China has basically done is create the greatest non-tariff barrier ever in the one part of the U.S. economy where we actually have some advantage over China, although greatly diminishing," Spieckerman told Neil Cavuto on "Cavuto: Coast-to-Coast."

The Financial Times reported President Trump has softened his position on what it originally considered a “Chinese government-conducted, sponsored, and tolerated cyber intrusions into US commercial networks”.

"We basically need to say, until you allow unfettered access of American internet companies to the China market, you are not going to have access to our market. We have to be much tougher on that," Spieckerman said.

U.S. intelligence officials recently briefed their counterparts in countries like Germany, Italy, and Japan about what they argue are potential cybersecurity risks related to Chinese telecom company Huawei, something Spieckerman said the U.S. and Europe need to address.

"We need to lock arms with the EU, the EU needs to lock arms with us and say "no way" to Huawei," he said.

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Spieckerman also called for an increase in import tariffs on Chinese goods to keep the necessary pressure on China.

"What is happening right under our noses is disastrous for the U.S. economy and disastrous for us strategically," Spieckerman said.