    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
    [March 8, 2000]
    [Pages 409-410]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 409]]

    Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Legislation on Permanent
    Normal Trade Relations With China
    March 8, 2000

    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
    commitments 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 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

    [[Page 410]]

    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.