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Document 701 of 974.

March 13, 2000, Monday

SECTION: Editorial; Ed. Final; Pg. 38A

LENGTH: 462 words

HEADLINE: PASS THE CHINA TRADE BILL

BODY:

Under election year pressure, the China trade bill is in danger of becoming a bigger deal than it really is.

All the bill would do is make permanent trade privileges, so-called Normal Trade Relations, China already has, putting it in the same category as almost every other nation. Under current law and unlike other nations, China's trade status must be renewed each year. The renewal, which has become almost automatic, is an unnecessary irritant in U.S.-China relations and an unnecessary element of uncertainty for American exporters.

President Clinton had made passage of the bill an administration priority. Congressional Republicans, who largely support the measure, worried that this might be business as usual for the White House, a flashy announcement with no follow-through. If anything, Clinton has gone the other direction.

In a speech they day the bill went to Congress, Clinton declared that NTR " is one of the most important votes Congress will pass in this year and for many years to come." He has had 60 lawmakers to the White House so far for cajoling sessions, and his secretaries of Agriculture and Commerce will lead two delegations of waverers to China.

But this is an election year. Even routine matters become melodramas; everybody feels obliged to choose up sides; and, to be sure, the politics of NTR are fascinating. On one side are Clinton, conservative Republicans (presumptive GOP nominee George W. Bush is a vocal booster of NTR) and the business lobby; on the other are such traditional Democratic constituencies as labor, environmentalists and human rights groups. In the middle is Vice President Al Gore, who technically supports his administration's "most important" vote but who has been busily adding caveats to placate his supporters.

Voting down NTR will not improve China's civil rights record, nor will it ease Beijing's belligerence to Taiwan. It may - emphasize "may" lead in that direction. Passage of NTR is a preliminary step - there are more hurdles to come - to China's membership in the World Trade Organization and that, in turn, may have beneficial long-term effects for China in terms of participating in a rules-based system, rising living standards, the required market reforms and, in general, adhering to international norms.

The short-term effect would be to activate a trade agreement negotiated last fall that would begin opening China's markets and economy to U.S. businesses and perhaps start rectifying the fast-rising $69 billion annual trade deficit with China. That deficit is second only to Japan's - and rapidly overtaking it - and 25 percent of the total U.S. trade imbalance.

And that, finally, is what NTR is all about; it is, after all, only a trade bill.

LOAD-DATE: March 16, 2000

Document 701 of 974.


Search Terms: Permanent, Normal, Trade
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