The Obama administration should revive discussions with China over a bilateral investment treaty, a senior Republican in the House of Representatives said as he pressed the White House to adopt a more aggressive trade policy.

Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, accused the administration of a “lack of action” on the China investment treaty, saying it was “as confusing as it is damaging to the interests of US businesses and their workers”.

“Again we are sitting on the sidelines while our trading partners are aggressively moving forward – many of which have already signed investment agreements with China that give their investors more rights in China than US investors have,” Mr Camp told the National Press Club in Washington.