Speaking in Congress, Billingslea said that Russia, China and Brazil seek to "undermine" the role of the dollar as the world's reserve currency and "destroy" the international security architecture.
"Ultimately, they see this as a way to remove the United States from its position as the leader of the free world. In the short term, they see this as a way to undermine our ability to use finance as a tool to ensure our national security, "the politician is convinced.
At the same time, according to him, China poses the most serious threat.
Billingslea noted that Beijing is taking active measures to protect its economy from possible sanctions, drawing lessons from the situation with the application of restrictions against Russia. So, China is increasing its gold reserves. In addition, last year, China reduced its investment in US government bonds.
The speaker also drew attention to the large Chinese banking sector. According to the data presented to him, the volume of debt obligations to Western investors (or their assets located in China) is up to $ 5.8 trillion. And the volume of China's international assets, which "may become the target of Western sanctions," is about $ 3,4 trillion.
"In other words, China could potentially strike back as hard as we do," the politician concluded.
He added that because of the trade and investment decisions made over the past few decades, the U.S. is facing an adversary that has a financial system that is resilient in the face of sanctions.
In April, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the United States is ready to impose new sanctions against China, but does not seek complete economic disengagement.