Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China. This bill would confer Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status on China and end the annual review process that kept attention on Red China’s espionage and human rights abuses. Although China has yet to comply completely with any trade agreement, granting PNTR would clear the way for China’s entry into the WTO. Although this bill contains some provisions to protect U.S. businesses from import surges, establishes a commission to monitor human rights, and requires the administration to report annually on China’s compliance with trade agreements, none of these measures has the teeth that annual review of Normal Trade Relations has had.
Representative James Traficant (D-OH) was correct when he said on the House floor during debate, "I say a Congress that today will prop up Communism is a Congress that today endangers every worker, every one of our kids, and every one of our grandkids by giving a country $80 billion a year whose missiles are pointed at every major American city, and Taiwan, who we have turned our backs on."
Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China, H.R. 4444, passed the House on May 24, 2000 by a vote of 237-197 (Roll Call 228). We have assigned pluses to the nays.
