DATE=3/2/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA DEBATE (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-259783
BYLINE=BARRY WOOD
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: There are indications that support may be
growing for a Clinton administration push to win a
crucial trade vote on China in the U-S Congress. V-O-
A's Barry Wood reports on what is Mr. Clinton's
principal legislative priority for his last year in
office.
TEXT: President Clinton and opposition Republicans
are allied in the fight to grant China permanent
normal trading status. The measure is a centerpiece
of a recently negotiated bilateral trade agreement and
is a crucial step in China's bid to become a member of
the World Trade Organization.
To become law, the trade agreement must be approved by
a simple majority of the Republican (opposition)
controlled House and Senate. In an unusual alliance,
President Clinton -- a Democrat -- is working with the
Republicans to push the measure forward.
While the measure appears to be assured passage in the
Senate, its chances are less promising in the House.
Organized labor, a key Democratic constituency,
opposes the agreement and so too do a majority of
House Democrats. While two-thirds of the Republicans
in the 435-member House favor the deal, they must be
joined by 90 to 100 Democrats for the agreement to
pass. With the vote likely by June, the pro-agreement
forces appear to be only 10 votes short of what they
need.
U-S Trade Representative Charlene Barshevsky, the
principal architect of the trade agreement, believes a
majority of the House will approve the measure because
its benefits are so heavily in favor of the United
States.
/// Barshevsky Act ///
It is a series of one-way concessions made by
China. We need not reciprocate in terms of our
market access policies. It covers the entire
gamut of goods, services, agriculture,
investment, unfair trade practices and most
other things you could probably think of. And
all we have to do to assure ourselves of the
benefits of the agreement is to grant China, on
a permanent basis, the trade status we have
given them every year since 1979 when we
normalized diplomatic relations.
/// End Act ///
Ms. Barshevsky spoke (Thursday) at a forum at Johns
Hopkins University's School of Advanced International
Studies.
The China trade agreement is favored by U-S business
groups that have launched their biggest lobbying
campaign with the Congress since the similarly
controversial 1993 North American Free Trade
Agreement.(signed)
NEB/BDW/JP
02-Mar-2000 16:53 PM EDT (02-Mar-2000 2153 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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