China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) continues to be a priority focus for the Clinton administration, legislators and the business community. Whether the U.S. Congress will grant China the special trading status necessary for U.S. businesses and farmers to benefit from the WTO accession package is a major concern. The United States is in a unique position with regard to China's accession to the WTO. According to WTO rules, all members of the WTO must grant each other unconditional most favored nation (MFN) status.1 Accordingly, Congress must approve permanent, unconditional MFN, or permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status, for the United States to lock in the full benefits of China's WTO concessions. If the United States continues to demand an annual vote on NTR, or if the United States imposes additional discriminatory conditions on China -- thereby denying China the same WTO rights it grants other WTO members -- China could invoke Article 13 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the predecessor to the WTO, namely the "non-application clause." This would mean the United States would not enjoy any of the concessions China agreed to in its November 1999 bilateral agreement with the United States. Granting China permanent MFN or NTR status requires an act of Congress. Since 1980, the U.S. Congress has undertaken an annual debate on whether to grant China NTR, with a vote generally occurring each summer. The results have always been in favor of annual renewal. But the current political climate of Capitol Hill has created an uphill battle for permanent NTR. With charges ranging from human rights abuses to religious persecution and theft of nuclear secrets from U.S. nuclear labs, sentiments -- both negative and positive -- run high when the topic of China is raised. How Did We Get Here? Many members of Congress see the annual NTR exercise as the best opportunity to reflect on the U.S.-China relationship. They also believe granting PNTR will eliminate the need for this annual debate, taking away any power the U.S. Congress has over the U.S. bilateral relationship with China. Page Forward TIA Home | Industry Beat | TIA Press Releases | Subscribe | Past Issues Letter from the President | Inside Washington | TIA Around the Globe | Small Company Focus Trade Shows and Marketing Opportunities | Standards Update | Member Spotlight New TIA Members | Member News | Market Forecast | Calendar of Events | PulseOnline Home Contact Us: Rali Mileva rmileva@tia.eia.org or Melanie Phung mphung@tia.eia.org