CongressDaily
China is determined to join the World Trade Organization even if Congress refuses to grant it permanent normal trade relations status, Chinese Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng told reporters at a news conference today in Beijing, according to wire service reports. Shi said China's entry into the WTO depends on the 135 members of that trade organization, not the vote in Congress. "After China concludes its bilateral negotiations, it will be up to WTO members to decide whether we get the two-thirds `yes' vote at the multilateral level," he said. "Permanent NTR is an issue affecting the implementation of Sino-U.S. bilateral arrangements." Shi suggested that, if Congress rejects PNTR, China might invoke a WTO rule allowing it to deny U.S. companies access to the Chinese market, a step he said would cause the United States "regret for 20 years, for a generation. If the United States misses this opportunity, it will actually lose the tremendous market of China and will be giving away the opportunity for participating in this market to its competitors."
Shi declined to elaborate on what actions, if any, China might take against U.S. businesses if Congress does not approve PNTR. But Shi said China was close to completing a bilateral agreement with the European Union, the largest of the 10 trading partners with which it has yet to reach agreement. The European Union confirmed Friday that EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will travel to China the week of March 27 to continue WTO accession talks. Shi indicated an agreement could be reached quickly. "Except for a few demands China is unable to commit to for any trading partner, there are not many remaining issues," Shi said. China's exports surged 41.2 percent to $31.57 billion in the first two months of this year compared to the same period the year before, Shi reported, saying this showed the country's trade competitiveness was improving.
Meanwhile, a White House official today confirmed reports that the administration plans to release the full text of the trade deal the United States reached with China last November. The administration will transmit the deal to the WTO today, a formality that will allow the White House to release the agreement publicly Tuesday, the official said. The agreement, which some members of Congress complained was kept too tightly under wraps, will suddenly become ubiquitous on Capitol Hill, with each member receiving their own copy Tuesday. The officials said the release is meant to squelch charges that the White House has been secretive about the deal, even though it has released voluminous summaries and members have had access to the full text if they request a viewing. The administration had maintained it wanted to keep the U.S. deal from providing either a ceiling or a floor on concessions other countries might receive from China, which would then be available to the United States. But with talks between the European Union and China dragging, the White House decided it might have to incur the secrecy charges for a while longer, and so it bowed to pressure to put out the text, the official said. — by Keith Koffler:
