Interestingly enough, the other day Clinton did delay the implementation of the NAFTA Mexican truck and driver access provision to the USA's highways. The harsh rhetoric may make some people nervous--it obviously works on Clinton.
Tom Lehman
Doug Henwood wrote:
> Reuters - January 7 2:45 PM ET
>
> Clinton Plans Big Effort on China-WTO Trade Deal
>
> By Steve Holland
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sensing a battle ahead, President Clinton is
> planning a major campaign early in the new year to convince the
> Republican-led Congress to approve a big trade deal with China, White
> House aides said on Friday.
>
> A White House team meets on Monday to plot strategy for getting
> Congress to approve China's entry into the World Trade Organization.
> Commerce Secretary William Daley and deputy White House chief of
> staff Steve Ricchetti will be designated to head the team.
>
> Clinton will hold a meeting of his Cabinet on Jan. 19 to discuss the
> effort, then use his State of the Union speech on Jan. 27 to appeal
> for an early approval of the market-opening WTO deal, which U.S.
> negotiators reached with their Chinese counterparts in mid-November
> 1999 in Beijing.
>
> In addition, Clinton will use a speech to the World Economic Forum in
> Davos, Switzerland at the end of January to stress the benefits of
> global trade, after the cause took a blow at a WTO conference in
> Seattle late in 1999.
>
> White House spokesman Jake Siewert said Clinton will be pushing for a
> vote in late spring -- May or June.
>
> He said the White House would like to see two groups that have a
> stake in increased access to Chinese markets -- the high-tech sector
> and agriculture -- press for congressional approval of the deal.
>
> ``You have some new constituencies that are very engaged on this
> issue, not just the big business and manufacturing sector, but also
> high-tech groups, which are very energized about opportunities in
> China, and farmers and ranchers who have a full appreciation for some
> of the opportunities in China,'' said Siewert.
>
> He said the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis -- and the ripple effect
> it had on U.S. agricultural exports to the region -- showed American
> farmers the importance of the export market.
>
> The trade agreement calls for China to slash tariffs and open a wide
> range of markets, from its farm sector to telecommunications industry.
>
> In return for China rolling back its trade barriers, Clinton must
> persuade Congress to grant Beijing favorable access to U.S. markets,
> so-called permanent normal trade relations status.
>
> Permanent normal trade relations would guarantee Chinese goods the
> same low-tariff access to U.S. markets as products from nearly every
> other nation. Without it U.S. businesses could not benefit from
> China's commitment to roll back tariffs and other trade barriers
> while foreign companies capitalize on China's new-found openness.
>
> Business leaders were worried the U.S. election year plus U.S. labor
> union leaders emboldened by the collapse of the WTO talks in Seattle
> would spell trouble for the China trade deal in Congress.
>
> The White House insisted it has virtually an ``open and shut case''
> in favor of the deal.
>
> ``This opens China's markets to America's goods,'' said Siewert.
> ``The deal is fundamentally about opening China's markets. Ours are
> already wide open.''
>
> Opponents of the trade pact, which would clear the way for Beijing to
> join the WTO, include the 13-million member AFL-CIO labor federation,
> the Teamsters and unions representing American steel and auto
> workers. They joined forces with environmentalists, human rights
> groups and consumer advocates in staging massive street protests that
> overwhelmed WTO meetings in Seattle Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 1999.