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Democrats Join Calls to Revoke China's Trade Status Aprl 26, 2001 China's recent detention of 24 Americans has not earned it any friends on Capitol Hill, where Democrats are joining Republicans to call for a repeal of China's favored trade status. In previous years, the debate on whether to continue China's "normal trade relations" status-which provides China the same low-tariff access to U.S. markets that other nations have-became extremely heated. IBEW and other unions have consistently opposed such status for China because of the country's record on labor, human rights and the environment. Permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) was formerly called "most favored nation" status. Despite labor's objections, Congress granted PNTR to China in 2000. GOP members opposed PNTR too, due to the oppression of religious groups and democracy advocates and also because they are wary of China's possible global military ambitions. Some members of Congress are calling for an immediate vote to repeal China's PNTR this year. "The idea that we would continue to open up our markets to China and sustain an $84 billion annual trade deficit at the same time they have held American servicemen and women in prison and continue to hold an American airplane is incomprehensible," said Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT). In the letter to House Leadership, Sanders was joined by 14 Democratic members of Congress from across the country to end the favored trade status. Those members are Peter DeFazio (Oregon), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Ronnie Shows (Mississippi), Frank Pallone (New Jersey), Cynthia McKinney (Georgia), Jerrold Nadler (New York), Peter Visclosky (Indiana), Ted Strickland (Ohio), William Pascrell (New Jersey), James Traficant (Ohio), Gene Taylor (Mississippi), Pete Stark (California) and Barbara Lee (California). The letter points to the declining conditions in China since PNTR was signed. China continues to hold between six and eight million political, religious, ethnic and labor activists in detention camps. Our trade deficit with China-the difference between what we export to China and what China imports to the United States-has increased from $57 billion in 1998 to $83.8 billion in 2000. Some economists estimate that each one billion in our trade deficit reflects the loss of 14,000 jobs, the letter said. The tougher China stance is due to China's 11-day detention of 24 U.S. military personnel who made an emergency landing at a Chinese airfield after their surveillance plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea on April 1.
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