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“CHINA, WTO, AND PERMANENT NORMAL TRADING RELATIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S5389 on May 14, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
CHINA, WTO, AND PERMANENT NORMAL TRADING RELATIONS
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, on behalf of a bipartisan group of 30 Senators, this morning I sent a letter to President Clinton expressing our view that bilateral negotiations with China over accession to the World Trade Organization should be resumed immediately and finalized quickly. After completion of an agreement that clearly advances U.S. economic interests, we are committed to granting China permanent Normal Trading Relations (NTR) status.
It is critical, especially after the events in Belgrade and Beijing over this past week, that we understand what is in America's national interest. It is in our national interest to ensure that China is incorporated into the global trade community through membership in the WTO. It is in our national interest to make sure that China follows internationally accepted trade rules. It is in our national interest to improve market access and open China's markets to American agricultural products, services, and manufactured goods. And it is in our national interest to do what we can to help anchor and sustain the economic reform process currently underway in China.
As I look at the Senators who signed this letter, I see a broad representation of our country, our society, and our economy. The nature of this group, half Democrat and half Republican, demonstrates that there is strong and broad support in the Senate for us to focus on America's long-term national economic interests in developing our trading relationship with China. We cannot, we must not, and we will not, ignore the many problem areas in the broad U.S.-China relationship, from human rights to espionage to weapons proliferation. But the message is clear that we must look closely at every aspect of this relationship in an objective way, determine what is best for us as a nation, and act accordingly.
The agreements reached during Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's recent visit to Washington are solid. We want no back-pedaling on those understandings. We want an early resumption of the trade negotiations and a rapid conclusion. We want to bring China into the global trade community, and to do so it is necessary to grant China permanent normal trading relations status. The broad bipartisan group of Senators who signed today's letter firmly supports that.
Let me be clear about the intended recipients of the message in this letter. We want the administration to know that a core bipartisan group in the Senate is behind resumption of negotiations and conclusion of a WTO agreement, and that group will support permanent NTR status for China. We want the most senior levels of the Chinese government to know that a good WTO agreement with the United States will lead rapidly to WTO accession and to permanent NTR status. We want the American public to understand that we in the Senate are taking strong leadership in promoting the long-term economic interests of this country.
And we want the American business community to know that they have responsibilities: first, to work ceaselessly to take advantage of the concessions China will make as it enters the WTO, second, to expand exports to China that will grow jobs in the United States, and, third, to educate the public and policymakers about the importance of integrating China into the global economy.
The terms negotiated by USTR, the Department of Agriculture, and others are excellent. These are structural changes, market opening measures, and trade concessions made by China, not by the United States. We, the United States, are giving up nothing and are obtaining immeasurable possibilities for the future.
I ask unanimous consent that this bipartisan letter be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, May 14, 1999.President William Jefferson Clinton,The White House, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. President: We are writing to encourage you to finalize bilateral negotiations over Chinese accession to the WTO. For our part, upon conclusion of a market access agreement that clearly advances our economic interests in China, we are committed to granting China permanent Normal Trading Relations status.
Despite the events of this week in Belgrade and China, it is critical that we focus on what is important to America's national interest. Incorporating China into the global trade community through WTO membership; encouraging China to follow internationally accepted trade rules; opening Chinese markets to our manufactured goods, agricultural products, and services; and helping to anchor the economic reform process underway in China, all serve our national interest. The recent events in Belgrade and Beijing are reason neither to weaken those commitments made during Premier Zhu Rongji's visit last month nor to delay conclusion of the accession process.
We look forward to working with you to ensure an early conclusion of these negotiations and China's accession to the WTO.
Sincerely,
Max Baucus, John H. Chafee, Jay Rockefler, Don Nickles,
John Breaux, Chuck Grassley, Dianne Feinstein, Ted
Stevens, Tom Daschle, Frank Murkowski, Mitch McConnell,
Larry Craig, Orrin Hatch, Conrad Burns, Chuck Hagel,
Daniel Inouye, Patty Murray, Harry Reid, Sam Brownback,
Bob Kerrey, Pat Roberts, Rod Grams, Daniel K. Akaka,
George Voinovich, Ron Wyden, Jeff Bingaman, Richard H.
Bryan, Gordon Smith, Slade Gorton, Craig Thomas.
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