In our stores today, Americans can buy products made in China’s forced labor camps by workers earning as little as 13 cents an hour. China is notorious for violating basic human rights and repressing dissent with brutality, prison, and "re-education" camps.

Congress is considering legislation to give China a blank check: Some members want Congress to end its current system of reviewing China’s human rights record each year before deciding our trade policy. They want to grant China permanent “normal trade relations” status with no annual reviews.

On Feb. 16, U.S. Congressman Sander Levin gave testimony before House Ways and Means Committee laying out a five-point proposal on the China issue. It was clearly designed to provide cover for representatives to support permanent normal trade relations status for China. It would allow representatives to say they supported the Levin proposal to address worker rights and import surges and to then vote against us on the crucial final vote on permanent NTR for China. This proposal by Levin is hostile and damaging to labor’s campaign.

Levin’s five-point proposal is a total fig leaf. It basically calls for a commission to monitor and prepare reports on China’s worker/human rights records with absolutely no teeth. It also talks about seeking an annual World Trade Organization review of whether China is abiding by its various commitments—again with no teeth. Finally, it talks about enacting procedures for invoking the special anti-import surge provisions in the U.S.-China WTO trade deal. Since those surge provisions are completely voluntary on the part of the U.S. and China, there still would be no guarantee—and in fact little likelihood—of any relief being provided against import surges in autos and other products.

UAW Washington Legislative Director Alan Reuther met with Levin in February on the China trade issue and described his meeting as "terrible." Reuther said Levin defended the administration’s trade deal with China and wouldn’t even commit to oppose permanent NTR if his additional proposals are defeated. Our own Region 1 CAP Conference delegates had a similar bad experience when they met with Levin.

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