Yellen: Sanctioning Chinese Banks Is A "Tool That Is Available"

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke to Reuters on a range of issues related to the US-China relationship. Select highlights below.

• Asked about potential sanctions on Chinese banks if they facilitate transactions on ‘dual use’ goods to Russia’s military. Yellen says: “There’s an executive order that the President has signed which gives Treasury the power to sanction foreign banks, in China or other places, that are facilitating the flow of military goods to Russia. That’s an important power and one we would be prepared to use if necessary."
• Yellen adds: "We’ve has intensive discussions with the Chinese about this I think they understand our position and it is a tool that's available."
• When pressed if sanctions could be imminent, Yellen says she has “nothing to announce.”
• Yellen says she has generally, “been in favor of free trade, but it has to be something that broadly benefits people throughout the country," noting that much of the US industrial workforce hasn’t recovered from “China shock” after the China was accepted into the WTO.
• Asked if she thinks US policies could be a harbinger of further protectionism, Yellen says: “I don’t think it should be.”
• On Chinese green overcapacity, Yellen says: "We're concerned about over dependence on one single country for total global supply of this full range of products. That's not a healthy situation." Says she “wouldn’t take anything off the table” to prevent the collapse of US industries while the US and China reach an agreement.
• On Russia, Yellen says that, "outright seizure of [Russian sovereign] assets" is justifiable under international law.
• Yellen notes that the US could get, "several hundred billion dollars in tax revenue," if Congress would get into compliance with the global tax deal next year.