Commerce Secretary Raimondo Emphasizes ‘Direct Communication’ With China on Economy

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Sunday said a key accomplishment of her recent trip to China was prioritizing a line of direct communication between the U.S. and China on economic matters.

"If you can't talk in a structured way about real commercial issues, you have no chance of solving these issues," Raimondo said in an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union." "I'm an optimist, but I'm a realist."

Raimondo said the U.S. is "ready and willing to use" leverage including export controls and tariffs if necessary, but added that it is in the world's interest for the two countries to have a stable relationship.

After Raimondo's emails were among those breached by Chinese hackers in early August, Raimondo said officials she spoke with suggested they were unaware of the breach.

"We aren't closed-eyed to the reality of what they are trying to do," Raimondo said. "It's hard to build trust when you have actions like that."

Raimondo was the fourth cabinet member to visit China this year and the first commerce secretary to visit the country in five years.