[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 25 (Wednesday, March 8, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1313-S1314]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS TREATMENT FOR THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA--
                   MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT--PM 90

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States, together with an accompanying 
report; which was referred to the Committee on Finance.

To the Congress of the United States:
  Last November, after years of negotiation, we completed a bilateral 
agreement on accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) with the 
People's Republic of China (Agreement). The Agreement will dramatically 
cut import barriers currently imposed on American products and 
services. It is enforceable and will lock in and expand access to 
virtually all sectors of China's economy. The Agreement meets the high 
standards we set in all areas, from creating export opportunities for 
our businesses, farmers, and working people, to strengthening our 
guarantees of fair trade. It is clearly in our economic interest. China 
is concluding agreements with other countries to accede to the WTO. The 
issue is whether Americans get the full benefit of the strong agreement 
we negotiated. To do that, we need to enact permanent Normal Trade 
Relations (NTR) for China.
  We give up nothing with this Agreement. As China enters the WTO, the 
United States makes no changes in our current market access policies. 
We preserve our right to withdraw market access for China in the event 
of a national security emergency. We make no changes in laws 
controlling the export of sensitive technology. We amend none of our 
trade laws. In fact, our protections against unfair trade practices and 
potential import surges are stronger with the Agreement than without 
it.
  Our choice is clear. We must enact permanent NTR for China or risk 
losing the full benefits of the Agreement we negotiated, including 
broad market access, special import protections, and rights to enforce 
China's commitment through WTO dispute settlement. All WTO members, 
including the United States, pledge to grant one another permanent NTR 
to enjoy the full benefits in one another's markets. If the Congress 
were to fail to pass permanent NTR for China, our Asian, Latin 
American, Canadian, and European competitors would reap these benefits, 
but American farmers and other workers and our businesses might well be 
left behind.
  We are firmly committed to vigorous monitoring and enforcement of 
China's commitments, and will work closely with the Congress on this. 
We will maximize use of the WTO's review

[[Page S1314]]

mechanisms, strengthen U.S. monitoring and enforcement capabilities, 
ensure regular reporting to the Congress on China's compliance, and 
enforce the strong China-specific import surge protections we 
negotiated. I have requested significant new funding for China trade 
compliance.
  We must also continue our efforts to make the WTO itself more open, 
transparent, and participatory, and to elevate consideration of labor 
and the environment in trade. We must recognize the value that the WTO 
serves today in fostering a global, rules-based system of international 
trade--one that has fostered global growth and prosperity over the past 
half century. Bringing China into that rules-based system advances the 
right kind of reform in China.
  The Agreement is in the fundamental interest of American security and 
reform in China. By integrating China more fully into the Pacific and 
global economies, it will strengthen China's stake in peace and 
stability. Within China, it will help to develop the rule of law; 
strengthen the role of market forces; and increase the contacts China's 
citizens have with each other and the outside world. While we will 
continue to have strong disagreements with China over issues ranging 
from human rights to religious tolerance to foreign policy, we believe 
that bringing China into the WTO pushes China in the right direction in 
all of these areas.
  I, therefore, with this letter transmit to the Congress legislation 
authorizing the President to terminate application of Title IV of the 
Trade Act of 1974 to the People's Republic of China and extend 
permanent Normal Trade Relations treatment to products from China. The 
legislation specifies that the President's determination becomes 
effective only when China becomes a member of the WTO, and only after a 
certification that the terms and conditions of China's accession to the 
WTO are at least equivalent to those agreed to between the United 
States and China in our November 15, 1999, Agreement. I urge that the 
Congress consider this legislation as soon as possible.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
The White House, March 8, 2000.

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