China Trade Deal Heats Up

March 9, 2000

President Clinton Wednesday sent Congress legislation to give China permanent normal trade relations. Clinton wants action quickly and may get it. The action caps several days of administration activity aimed at getting Congress to move on the issue that agricultural interests believe can help energize the farm economy.

A vote against the bill, Clinton said in a speech Wednesday, "will cost America jobs, as out competitors in Europe, Asia and elsewhere capture Chinese markets that we otherwise would have served. I am working as hard as I can to convince Congress and the American people to seize this opportunity."

"I intend to and expect to see us pass it," said House GOP Leader Dick Armey, according to a REUTERS article. "It’s going to be tough to get the votes."

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said China’s entry into the World Trade Organization is "in the best interests of American workers," and said he’ll support Clinton’s bid for permanent NTR, BLOOMBERG NEWS reports.

Ernest S. Micek, chairman of Cargill, said, "The agriculture community in Congress rightly supports this legislation, because it is the right thing to do for the American farmer, and it’s the right thing to do for America. We see a strong bipartisan spirit that will carry the day for (the) legislation."

American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman wrote House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R_IL) urging that Congress pass NTR legislation before May 1. "The longer Congress delays acting on this measure, the easier it will be for extraneous matters to cloud the issue," he said.

"China is the most important growth market for U.S. agricultural exports," he told Hastert. "U.S. negotiators have crafted a historic agreement which will lead to immediate market access for U.S. agricultural products."

Glen Keppy, past president, National Pork Producers Council, told a Senate Finance trade subcommittee that pork represents 44% of daily meat protein intake in the world. Before the Uruguay Round Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S. producers were precluded from exporting significant volumes of pork. Since the Uruguay Round agreement went into effect, U.S. pork exports have increased about 78% in volume and 76% in value from 1994 levels.

At the same hearing, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said the U.S._China World Trade Organization accession agreement could add an expected $1.6 billion annually to U.S. grain, oilseed and product and cotton exports by 2005.

"U.S. export gains could approach $2 billion as the Chinese reduce their tariffs on other products, such as poultry, pork, beef, citrus and other fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and forest and fish products," he added.

"We cannot afford not to give China permanent NTR status," Glickman continued. "China is the world's largest country ... Its economy, which is one of the fastest growing at 7% annually, will make China a key market for agricultural commodities in the future."

He reminded the subcommittee that China is a major nuclear power and "holds the key to peace and stability on the entire Asian continent ... we simply cannot afford to isolate ourselves from a nation with this much ability to tilt the global balance of power."

U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said China's commitments "are specific and enforceable, will be implemented rapidly and hold China to the same standards we expect of WTO members."

Where agriculture is concerned, she added, "we will open China's market for all commodities of significant export interest to us and address a range of broader policy issues of concern to American producers."