[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8001]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                             PNTR FOR CHINA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Etheridge) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, the vote on permanent trade status for 
China is vital to our technology and small business interests in North 
Carolina, but it is particularly important to North Carolina 
agriculture, so I am glad this evening to come and join a number of 
other colleagues and talk about this issue. In 1998, North Carolina 
ranked 11th among the 50 States in the value of agricultural exports 
totaling $1.5 billion. These exports supported about 22,800 jobs both 
on and off the farm in our State.
  Our State's largest agricultural export, of course, in North Carolina 
is tobacco. In 1998, North Carolina exported $573 million worth of 
tobacco leaf. It has been estimated that if flue-cured tobacco farmers 
could capture just 1 percent of the Chinese market, that is 1 percent, 
and 1 percent of the manufacturing in China was comprised of American 
flue-cured tobacco, the stocks in Stabilization would cease to exist 
and quotas would rise for our farmers.
  The North Carolina Rural Prosperity Task Force that was chaired by 
Erskine Bowles estimated that if China would give our farmers fair 
access to their markets, North Carolina exports of flue-cured tobacco 
would increase by as much as 10 percent right away. After suffering a 
50 percent loss in income due to quota cuts during the past several 
years, such an increase would be welcome news to many struggling 
farmers and their families and to tobacco industry workers in our State 
and other States.
  Today China's tariff that is imposed on tobacco is currently 40 
percent. Once China joins the WTO, it would drop to only 10 percent by 
2004. The tariff on tobacco products will fall from 65 percent to just 
25 percent during that same period.
  What must the United States sacrifice to gain these trade benefits? 
Nothing. All we have to do is make permanent what we have been doing 
for 20 years. We have been doing it on an annual basis. The U.S. 
granted China most-favored-nation status, now called normal trading 
relations status, in 1980. Simply by voting to continue this policy on 
a permanent basis, the Chinese will be required to reduce their 
tariffs, revise their trading practices, abide by the rule of law and 
remove their phony trade barriers on many of our products.
  Therefore, the question coming before this House is this: Do we allow 
the U.S. tobacco growers and other farmers to take advantage of this 
new access? Or do we shut them out and give our competitors free reign 
to enjoy the fruits of our hard work and the negotiations that have 
taken place? To me, the answer is easy, which is why I support PNTR for 
China.
  This does not mean that I am looking at this with my eyes closed. 
China has problems it needs to address before formally coming into WTO. 
Of special concern to me is China's use of blue mold as a phony barrier 
to keep our tobacco farmers from entering into this market. Barring our 
tobacco from their market based on the contention that blue mold could 
affect their crop has no basis in science and is a barrier that does 
not stand the light of day. I have been helping to lead the effort with 
other Members of this House to make sure that this issue is resolved 
satisfactorily, and I trust that our USDA and Chinese officials will 
have an announcement on this in the very near future.
  While I have spoken at length about tobacco, China's entry into WTO 
will also greatly benefit North Carolina's poultry, pork, grain and 
other industries in our State. The North Carolina Department of 
Agriculture estimates that poultry, pork and a wide variety of other 
farmers could also see a steady increase in exports if China is granted 
PNTR. Last year, North Carolina exported more than $300 million in 
chicken and turkey products. China is the second leading market for 
U.S. poultry exports, with North Carolina producers selling tens of 
millions of dollars worth of poultry to China every year. Under the WTO 
agreement, China will cut its tariff in half, from 20 percent to 10 
percent by 2004 for frozen poultry cuts. There will be no quantity 
limits at this tariff level, for China has agreed to accept all poultry 
meat from the United States that is certified wholesome by the United 
States Department of Agriculture. The same is true for pork. About 60 
percent of all meat consumed in China is pork. This will make a big 
difference for us. I think China PNTR is a win-win for our farmers.

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