The GOP leaders have announced that the House will vote on the proposal to grant permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status to China during the last week in May (probably around May 23-25). This means the UAW, the rest of the labor movement and our non-labor allies will be going all out during the next three and a half weeks to mobilize against PNTR.

We are stressing that Congress should reject PNTR because the agreement providing for the accession of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO):

• fails to require China to recognize fundamental worker and human rights;

• fails to effectively eliminate China's discriminatory auto and aerospace industrial policies, which are threatening the jobs of thousands of American workers, and also fails to protect American workers against huge surges of imports from China that would jeopardize their jobs; and

• fails to contain any mechanisms to ensure that China will honor its trade commitments.

In our judgment, the United States has nothing to lose and much to gain by rejecting PNTR at this time. Specifically, if Congress refuses to grant PNTR to China, under a 1979 U.S.-China treaty American businesses and farmers will still be entitled to all of the tariff reductions and other trade benefits that China accords to other nations. In addition, the United States will still be able to use our existing bilateral enforcement tools, such as Section 301, to take action against discriminatory Chinese practices. These tools are much more effective than the cumbersome dispute resolution procedures under the WTO.

Most importantly, by rejecting PNTR Congress will retain the leverage provided by the annual reviews of China's trade status. This will enable Congress and the United States to use the leverage of access to our market to pressure China to respect basic worker and human rights, to prevent import surges that would jeopardize the jobs of thousands of American workers and to honor its various trade commitments.

In contrast, if Congress grants PNTR to China, we will give up all leverage on these critically important issues. In effect, we will have given China a "blank check."

To counteract the massive lobbying campaign by corporations, GOP Congressional leaders and the Clinton Administration, we need to mobilize grass roots pressure on Representatives to oppose PNTR.

Please take the time to call and/or write your Representative as soon as possible. Urge them to vote against any proposal to grant PNTR to China. Let them know that this is a priority issue for the UAW and the entire labor movement.

The next few weeks will be critically important in determining the outcome of this trade battle. Thanks in advance for all of your efforts.