Agence France Presse
WASHINGTON, April 4 (AFP) - In the countdown to an historic vote on Beijing's US trade status, President Bill Clinton made a personal pitch to undecided lawmakers Tuesday to convince them America has the most to gain from opening China's markets.
"It's a very one-sided deal with all the market opening done by China, and it's unusual in that sense that there is little or no downside to American businesses and tons of opportunities," White House spokesman Jake Siewart said.
Clinton was meeting later with members of his Democratic party from the House of Representatives who are undecided on the upcoming vote to grant China permanent normal trade relations (PNTR), which would end the annual review process.
Opposition has been growing among Democrats and their labor backers who warn of lost jobs, while many Republicans oppose China's role in weapons proliferation and both parties decry its human rights abuses.
China signed a deal last November pledging sweeping open-market concessions in exchange for US support for its World Trade Organization (WTO) membership.
Beijing made clear, however, that the deal would depend on US congressional approval for its PNTR, a status that bestows equal trade privileges on all but a handful of countries.
Currently, China's trade status is approved annually after invariably bitter debates over Beijing's human rights record, labor abuses and arms proliferation and aggression toward Taiwan.
Siewert pointed out that while Congress always finishes up granting the trade benefits, this year's deal, paving the way for Beijing's WTO membership, would be a boon for US exporters.
"It's hard to understand how someone can vote year after year to keep America's markets open to China and not take a vote this year to actually, for the first time ever, open China's markets to America," he said.
Breaking down US-China trade barriers is key to Clinton's plans for keeping the economy booming, and he has been lobbying daily for PNTR's approval.
"If we don't do it, 20 years from now we'll still be kicking ourselves for being so dumb," Clinton said Monday on a visit to California's high-tech corridor.
The Senate is almost certain to approve the measure but the bill must get through the House, where many members are torn over the issue.
According to an unofficial poll by Congress Daily, of the 435 representatives, 124 members said they will support normalizing trade relations, including 93 Republicans and 31 Democrats, and 122 members said they would oppose it, including 37 Republicans and 83 Democrats.
Those figures leave a whopping 189 representatives undecided.:
