On Fri, 17 Mar 2000, Rakesh Bhandari wrote:
> Michael, Brad:
>
> Are you referring here to the right of any WTO member to invoke 'non
> application' as a one time measure against a new member?
No, what really puzzles me, Rakesh, is that, as far as I understand it, we essentially agreed to let China into the WTO when we signed that trade agreement in November. When the EU finalizes its agreement, China's accession will be more or less automatic. So even if Congress votes against PNTR, it will have zero effect on keeping China out of the WTO. It's like closing the barn door after the mule is gone. And spending a lot of political capital to do it. It might then have a possible downside *on top of that.* But what really puzzles me is that even in a best case scenario, this seems to win nothing.
Max implies there must be a subtler strategy that makes sense of this. I don't deny that for a second. I just want to know what it is. All I've heard is that this is a fight "to keep China out of the WTO." But as far as I know, we already gave that away and can't get it back. I thought maybe I was wrong about the details of WTO procedure. But Brad seems to say no.
Michael __________________________________________________________________________ Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com