03 May 2000
Text: Commerce Secretary Daley May 3 Testimony on China Trade
(Announces five-point plan to ensure Chinese WTO compliance) (1300) U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley announced in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee May 3 that his department would be immediately implementing an "aggressive" five-point plan to ensure China complies with its World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations. Daley said the plan includes the following steps: 1. The establishment of a new rapid response team, focused on ensuring Chinese compliance, headed by a deputy assistant and including a dozen compliance and trade specialists. Daley added that he hopes to increase the size of the team and eventually station compliance experts in China on a permanent basis. 2. The enforcement of tight deadlines for the rapid response team to investigate market access and commercial problems, with the goal of cutting through bureaucratic red tape and resolving conflicts quickly before they turn into formal trade disputes. 3. The launching of a special program to watch for surges in imports from China, and to chart export growth in key sectors to ensure that China is opening up its markets as agreed. This program will also include elements to handle anti-dumping and anti-subsidy rule violations. 4. The sharing with China of U.S. experience in putting WTO legislation into effect, including the establishment of a comparative law dialogue to help the Chinese conform their laws to the WTO and the provision of technical assistance. 5. The administration of domestic training sessions to educate American businesses, especially first-time exporters, on U.S. legal rights and China's commitments under the WTO. Daley also outlined President Clinton's proposal, which responds to public concern about the impact of trade on American workers and communities, to coordinate Administration-wide responses for regions suffering from sudden and severe economic distress. According to Daley, Clinton's package includes: -- A Community Economic Adjustment Initiative modeled on the Defense Department's program to help communities slated for military base closures. -- The reform and expansion of the Labor Department's Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. -- The expansion of the President's New Markets Initiative, which provides investment incentives to spur economic activity in distressed urban, and rural areas. Following is the text of Daley's remarks, as prepared for delivery: (begin text) ORAL TESTIMONY BY COMMERCE SECRETARY WILLIAM M. DALEY HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE WASHINGTON, D.C. MAY 3, 2000 [Text As Prepared for Delivery] I know from my Hill meetings, many of you are convinced the China deal makes good economic sense. But a question I hear over and over is: How do we know China will comply with it? Their track record, frankly, is mixed. However, in my opinion, things are changing dramatically. The Chinese have told me countless times they want the benefits of open markets. They want to join WTO, and follow the rules. Obviously, deeds, not words, matter most. China is in the process of changing its rules and laws, and retraining state bureaucrats and managers. All this is positive. But there are no guarantees. So today I'm announcing a five-point Commerce Department plan that will be very aggressive at making sure China lives up to the deal. It takes effect immediately, and won't require additional resources to start. And it dovetails with the very helpful enforcement proposals by Rep. Levin, and other members we have been working with. First, we're putting in place a new rapid response team on China. It includes a dozen compliance and trade specialists. It will be headed by a deputy assistant secretary for China, focused on compliance. This will be the highest-level Commerce official ever put in charge of enforcing a trade agreement with a single country. Next week, I'm sending a senior Commerce official to Beijing to determine the needs and priorities of the U.S. business community, and to report back to me. By next year, I want to triple resources for compliance; increase the size of our team; and permanently station compliance experts in China. I want to do the same in Japan and South Korea, as part of a broader effort to beef up enforcement worldwide. Obviously, we need Congress' help. The President requested $22 million for these measures in his budget for next year. The second point of our plan explains where the name -- rapid response team -- comes from. We are putting in place tight deadlines, for investigating market access and commercial problems. Our goal is to resolve conflicts quickly before they turn into formal trade disputes -- and to cut through bureaucratic red tape. But as Amb. Barshefsky will tell you, we won't hesitate, not for a minute, to go to the WTO, if that's what it takes to fix a problem. Third, we will keep a careful eye on U.S.-China trade flows. We will have a special program watching for surges in imports -- much like our monitoring program for steel imports, which has been very effective. We'll chart export growth in key sectors to ensure China is opening up markets as it agreed to. And we'll have special programs for anti-dumping and anti-subsidy rule violations. Fourth, we want to help China help itself. We will share our experience in putting WTO legislation into effect, and give technical assistance, which China has requested. Meetings on this begin in the summer. And last month, when I was in Beijing, we agreed to a comparative law dialogue to help the Chinese conform their laws to the WTO. Fifth and finally, we must be more pro-active on the export side. I want American businesses, especially first-time exporters, to understand U.S. legal rights, and China's commitments under the WTO. In our country, we're planning to hold a number of training sessions for small and medium-sized companies. We'll be using our trade centers in every state, and our five offices in China, to find export opportunities. In the past, Commerce has created programs to handle unique situations. We did it for Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and it was popular with the business community -- and successful. Our five-point plan is good government. Just as businesses are hiring and expanding so they are ready on day one to export, government will be ready, also. Let me highlight another issue of great concern to many members: the impact of trade on workers and communities. President Clinton is requesting a substantial budget increase to help them succeed in the global economy. The package includes a Community Economic Adjustment Initiative modeled on the Defense Department's program to help communities slated for military base closures. This program, based at Commerce's EDA, would coordinate Administration-wide responses for regions suffering from sudden and severe economic distress. The package would also reform, and expand the Labor Department's Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. And it would greatly expand the President's New Markets Initiative, by providing investment incentives to spur economic activity in distressed urban, and rural areas. Mr. Chairman, we need programs like these if we are to build confidence among the American people about trade, and globalization. I did a number of trade education events around the country in the last year. And you could see people are sincerely worried about the effects of globalization. You saw it in Seattle last December, and in Washington just a few weeks ago. Government needs to step up to the plate by helping all Americans deal with the effects of globalization, because it's here to stay. As we all know, the world economy has been good for us as a nation. We're the biggest trading nation on earth. Our economy is the strongest, and our goal, and the reason to pass PNTR is to keep our nation strong. Thank you very much. (end text) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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