The United States must do more to understand how China’s communist regime is leveraging economic coercion and statecraft against it, according to Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.). “It’s extremely important that the United States administration, whether it’s a Democratic or Republican administration, understands how China uses economic coercion,” Bera said during a webinar hosted by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a D.C.-based think tank. “What they’re doing really is direct coercion,” he added. Since the beginning of the trade war between the United States and China in 2018, economic reprisals such as tariffs, sanctions, and investment restrictions have increasingly defined the Sino-American relationship. Most recently, reports documented a massive hoarding spree by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), through which the regime continues to stockpile precious resources like semiconductor chips and cotton.  This was conducted apparently to insulate itself from the effects of U.S. trade controls. Bera underscored the …