(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden’s nominee to be Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s No. 2 indicated the U.S. is open to using a Trump-era investment ban to punish Beijing for violating international trade rules.

“China is our top strategic competitor,” Wally Adeyemo, the nominee for deputy Treasury secretary, said Tuesday during his Senate confirmation hearing.

When asked if he was open to using a directive by former President Donald Trump, which targeted Chinese telecommunications companies tied to the nation’s military, Adeyemo left open the possibility of using those tools.

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“It’s important that we hold them accountable to the rules that we have agreed to in the international system,” he told the Senate Finance Committee. “In some cases unilaterally, but always best to do multilaterally to demonstrate that China will be isolated if they violate rules to the road.”

Adeyemo said that once he’s confirmed, he will meet with Treasury officials to “understand how it’s being implemented” and “look at the tools that exist today to hold China accountable.”

Trump on Nov. 11 signed an executive order calling for U.S. investors to divest from companies owned or controlled by the Chinese military.

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