Tom Lehman
Michael Pollak wrote:
> 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