Speaking at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said it's clear now China is emerging as a threat to national security, U.S. businesses and American workers, CNBC reported.

"Over the past decade," Raimondo said, "China's leaders have made clear that they do not plan to pursue political and economic reform and are instead pursuing an alternative vision of their country's future. China's reprioritization away from economic growth toward national security and its assertive military behavior means that we have to rethink how we protect our national security interests while also promoting our interests in trade and investment."

The commerce secretary added that Chinese leaders have made it clear for the past decade that "increasing the role of the state society and economy," "constraining the free flow of capital" and "decoupling in technology areas of the future" are more important than political and economic reform.

"Probably most disturbingly is they're accelerating their efforts to fuse economic and technology policies with their military ambitions. And as China's economy has grown in size and influence, so, too, has its commitment to using nonmarket trade and investment practices in ways that are forcing us, compelling us, to defend United States businesses and workers and those of our allies and partners."

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