04 May 2000
Text: Commerce Department Announces China Trade Compliance Plan
(Daley lays out five-step plan to monitor China trade) (920) Secretary of Commerce William Daley outlined May 2 a five-step plan to ensure that China lives up to the trade agreement it signed last November with the United States regarding its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Daley's plan calls for: -- A rapid-response compliance team working in the United States and in China. -- A comparative law dialogue and technical assistance. -- Tight new deadlines to investigate market access and commercial problems. -- China-specific WTO training and an export promotion program. -- China-specific trade enforcement and statistical monitoring. According to the Commerce Department announcement, implementation will begin "immediately." The Commerce Department also released a fact sheet that details how the five-step program would be implemented. To concentrate monitoring efforts, the Commerce Department would establish a new Deputy Assistant Secretary for China devoted to monitoring and enforcing China's WTO compliance, the fact sheet says. Daley presented the five-step plan in testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee in a May 3 hearing on granting permanent Normal Trade Relations status to China. Following is the text of the Commerce Department announcement and the fact sheet: (begin announcement text) May 2, 2000 Secretary Daley Announces China Compliance Plan Washington, D.C.-- Commerce Secretary William M. Daley today announced a five-point plan to enforce China's WTO commitments and to make sure that the U.S. gets the full benefits of our bilateral agreement. The Secretary, who was asked by the President to lead the effort to secure Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with China, presented the plan at a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee. "The Chinese market is vast, with more than 1.2 billion people. The potential for American businesses to sell their goods and services in this historically closed market is extraordinary. That's why PNTR is so critical," said Secretary Daley. "We also know it's essential for China to abide by international trading rules. That's why the Department of Commerce is putting into effect special measures to ensure compliance. These steps will be taken by the department, immediately." The plan calls for: 1. A rapid-response compliance team working here and in China. 2. Comparative law dialogue and technical assistance. 3. Tight new deadlines to investigate market access and commercial problems. 4. China-specific WTO training and export promotion program. 5. China-specific trade enforcement and statistical monitoring. Immediate steps will be taken without additional resources. For the next year (FY2001), the President has requested a trade enforcement initiative of $22 million, which will help expand this effort. "I see all these as good government measures. They are concrete and responsive. They are forward-looking," said Secretary Daley. "The United States is the biggest trading nation on earth, and our economy the strongest. This is an historic opportunity to shape the course of the global economy and to open a potential market with more than a billion people. That's why this PNTR vote is so important, and that's why the President has made it his top economic priority." (end announcement text) (begin fact sheet) China Compliance and Enforcement Initiative: The Commerce Department's Five-Point Plan to Ensure China's WTO Compliance May 3, 2000 Concentrate Enforcement Efforts -- Establish a new Deputy Assistant Secretary for China devoted to monitoring and enforcing China's WTO compliance. -- Assemble a rapid response team of 12 compliance and trade specialists based both in Washington, DC and China. -- Immediately dispatch a team member to China to assess compliance needs and priorities of the U.S. business community. -- Establish a China-specific subsidy enforcement team to ensure that China abides by its WTO commitments. -- Launch a new website containing detailed information on China's accession commitments, contact names, and up-to-date information on China's laws and regulations. Help China Reform -- Provide technical assistance and WTO skills training workshops to Chinese officials charged with implementing China's WTO obligations. -- Initiate a comparative law dialogue with Chinese officials and lawmakers on needed legal and regulatory reforms to conform to the WTO. Promptly Address Market Access Problems -- Implement an accelerated investigation procedure to encourage resolution of issues without resorting to WTO dispute settlement. -- Within 14 days of receiving a business complaint, the rapid response team will engage appropriate officials in China to address the problem. -- If resolution is not reached within 90 days, further action will be considered. Give U.S. Companies a Head Start -- Initiate a nationwide campaign to educate U.S. companies, especially small and medium-sized businesses, on their legal rights and opportunities presented by China's new WTO commitments. -- Launch an aggressive trade promotion campaign that will include actual and virtual events, such as trade shows, missions, and seminars on doing business in China. -- Establish a trade opportunity hotline as part of our China website. Aggressively Monitor Trade Flows -- Closely monitor and analyze imports from and exports to China in critical sectors. Modeled on our successful import-surge monitoring program for steel, this will ensure early warning of potential market-distorting practices by Chinese exporters and provide a mechanism to track circumvention of anti-dumping orders. -- Monitoring our exports to China will help ensure we get the market access we agreed upon. Implementation of the Initiative will begin immediately. For the long term, the President has requested $22 million for fiscal year 2001 to expand this initiative. (end fact sheet) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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