WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said on Thursday he would delay a vote on U.S. membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) for months, a decision that could help the White House shore up support for a landmark trade agreement with China.
"We need to go ahead and can go ahead with (a vote on China's) permanent trade status. Frankly, the White House has suggested that they wish we would do that," the Mississippi Republican said when asked why he decided to put legislation on WTO membership on hold.
Under congressional rules, every five years any lawmaker can introduce a resolution that would, if it passed, call for the United States to give up its membership in the Geneva-based WTO, which sets global trading rules.
It is unclear who would sponsor the resolution this year, but a vote was widely expected in the Senate before lawmakers took up China's trade status.
As a result of Lott's decision, a vote on U.S. membership in the WTO could be pushed back to June or July, after a vote on China.
Some administration officials feared a heated debate over U.S. membership in the WTO would undermine support for Washington's trade agreement with China, which clears the way for Beijing to join the WTO.
Many lawmakers are critical of U.S. participation in the WTO following the collapse of global trade talks in Seattle last year, and say the organization has done little to settle disputes between the United States and Europe over bananas and beef.
Congressional opposition to the WTO picked up pace last month after it ruled against the U.S. Foreign Sales Corporations (FSC), a tax break program that benefits major U.S. companies.
"The WTO has some problems of its own right now," Lott told reporters after meeting with business executives.
But congressional leaders doubt a resolution that would end U.S. participation in the WTO would pass, regardless of when the vote was held.
Congressional aides said Lott, an outspoken critic of the WTO, agreed to delay the vote so lawmakers could concentrate on the China trade bill, which would grant Beijing permanent normal trade relations (NTR) status.
Permanent NTR would guarantee Chinese goods the same low-tariff access to U.S. markets as products from nearly every other nation.
The White House says Congress must grant China permanent NTR under WTO rules, and is pressing for congressional approval by June.:
