Workers, Human Rights and
the Environment vs. Permanent
Normal Trade Relations
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China & Workers

In 1999, the U.S. imported approximately $81 billion in goods from China and exported $13 billion -- a six to one ratio of imports to exports that represents the most unbalanced relationship in the history of U.S. trade. While exports generated about 170,000 jobs in the United States in 1999, imports eliminated almost 1.1 million domestic job opportunities, for a net loss of 930,000 manufacturing jobs.

China's entry into the WTO, under permanent NTR with the U.S., will lock this relationship in place, setting the stage for rapidly rising trade deficits in the future that would severely depress employment in manufacturing, the sector most directly affected by trade. China's accession to the WTO would also increase income inequality in the U.S.

Over the last 20 years, many of the largest corporations in America have invested tens of billions of dollars in China in the search for cheap labor. These corporations are not hiring American workers, but desperate workers in China at 20 or 30 cents an hour to produce products which are then brought back into United States markets.

For more information on China and the economy, please visit the links below.



CONGRESSMAN BERNARD SANDERS