[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 245]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       U.S.-CHINA TRADE AGREEMENT

  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, as we begin the next session of the 106th 
Congress, we are going to engage in another heated discussion regarding 
normal trade relations with China.
  In exchange for attaining membership in the World Trade Organization, 
China has made a number of commitments in regard to its trade policy. 
Among those commitments are improved market access, tariff reductions, 
elimination of nontariff quotas, open service sectors and elimination 
of export subsidies.
  While many people are celebrating this alleged win for American 
businesses, I come this morning to question the actual benefit for the 
United States of America. China is the fourth largest supplier of U.S. 
imports and the thirteenth largest buyer of U.S. exports. In addition, 
the U.S. trade deficit with China has risen from $6.2 billion in 1989 
to $57 billion in 1998.
  Furthermore, China has a dismal record of complying with prior 
international agreements, and I think this is an important point. A 
blatant example concerns intellectual property rights.
  The United States Trade Representative can specify under the 1974 
Trade Act which countries are violators. They are the ``Special 301 
Priority Foreign Countries,'' sort of a designation and those countries 
that violate U.S. intellectual property rights are so designated. So 
let us look at the list when it comes to China.
  In 1991, China was named a Special 301 violator for intellectual 
property rights. They sat down with them. They reached an agreement a 
year later and China said: We will agree to strengthen our intellectual 
property laws and improve protection for U.S. products in our country. 
But did they?
  In 1994, the United States Trade Representative again identified 
China as a violator. At this time, many factories in China were 
pirating compact disks while China trade laws restricted U.S. market 
access. So an agreement was reached a year later again with China to 
stem this piracy and enforce the intellectual property rules.
  But again in 1996, another year later, the USTR, the United States 
Trade Representative, designated China as a violator again for not 
complying. And only when they were threatened with a $2 billion 
sanction did China begin to comply.
  So China has shown an ability to exploit loopholes in agreements 
regarding the transfer of military technology. In 1992, China agreed to 
abide by the rules of the Missile Technology Control Regime and then 
turned and sold ballistic missile components to Pakistan. Though no 
technical violation was made, the transfer, of course, was contrary to 
the spirit of the agreement. China has also aided Pakistan, Iran, and 
Algeria in the area of nuclear technology and equipment.
  Another area of uneasiness is that China has made no attempt to 
conceal its aggressiveness dealing with military modernization. In 
addition to arms purchases, such as the Russian built SU-27 fighter, 
which holds near parity with our F-15 fighter, China has begun 
construction of two short-range missile bases which now can threaten 
Taiwan.
  Mr. Speaker, we also need not forget the enormous damage called by 
China's espionage activities resulting in the theft of U.S. 
thermonuclear design information. The Cox report concluded that 
elements of this stolen information would help China in building its 
next generation of mobile ICBMs. In fact, the Washington Times reported 
on December 6 last year that China is working on a new strategic 
missile submarine containing smaller nuclear warheads similar to 
American weapons. Upon completion, China will have the ability to 
strike U.S. forces anywhere it chooses.
  Mr. Speaker, I think the evidence is clear: this country is 
aggressively expanding its military complex, while at the same time 
blatantly disregarding international agreements and exploiting 
loopholes in others.
  China has a history of torturing some of its religious leaders and 
arresting peaceful opposition demonstrators. China has stolen U.S. 
nuclear secrets and attempted to influence the U.S. political process 
through what I believe to be illegal campaign contributions.
  Mr. Speaker, these are just a few illustrations I've outlined in the 
brief 5 minutes that I have here. There is a longer list of China's 
predatory tactics. Do we have assurance that China will keep its words 
the next time. I doubt it.
  I bring this to the attention of my colleagues now so that when we 
have the heated discussion regarding the normalization of trade 
relations with China they will remember.

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