By ASHLEY BAKER
WASHINGTON, April 12 (UPI) -- Thousands of blue-collar workers massed on Capitol Hill Wednesday to protest a possible trade deal with China that they fear will eliminate their jobs as corporations move to exploit cheap overseas wages and weak environmental standards.
"We came here today to tell people we are for an America where working moms and dads won't lay awake at night worrying that their jobs and pay checks will be ripped up, boxed up and sent to some factory in China," said Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich. "We want an agreement that helps lift China to our standards, not drop us to theirs."
"I say shame on American business...when they come lobbying to Capitol Hill with billions of dollars bulging out of their pockets," said Teamsters President James Hoffa. "We stand for human dignity and it is only through our work that we can stop these corporations that go from country to country and continent to continent looking for workers to exploit."
Wednesday's rally comes one month before the House of Representatives is to vote on a trade proposal that would permanently cap tariff rates on Chinese imports in exchange for better access to China's huge and largely untapped pool of consumers and workers. While the normally pro-trade Senate is expected to approve the trade measure, passage in the House will be difficult.
Because it pits two heavyweight political donors -- business and labor -- against each another, the China trade vote's impact on political fund raising will be considerable. More than 90 percent of the $60.8 million contributed by organized labor in the 1998 election cycle went to Democrats, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, while nearly two-thirds of the $666.6 million contributed by business went to Republicans.
"This vote puts Democrats in a difficult position," said Marit Babin, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "They are trying very hard to woo high-tech companies, so voting against permanent normal trade relations with China would definitely hurt any inroads they've made there."
Asked about the political impact of the China trade vote, workers at Wednesday's rally were more to the point: "If you vote for this trade deal, we'll kick your a---- out in November," said Joe Roach, of Indianapolis, when asked what message he would take to his representative.
Labor-intensive industries, such as garment manufacturing, would be among those hardest hit by expanded trade with China. The American Textile Manufacturers Association estimates the November pact would cost roughly 150,000 U.S. jobs.
"In industries like textiles, the Chinese do have an advantage, so there would be a transfer of production, but that's been happening for a long time," said Dan Griswold, associate director for the Cato Institutes Center for Trade Policy Studies. "Our specialty is in the more technology and capital intensive industries. This is why trade works: we both do what we are best at, and in the end both countries are better off."
Testifying last week before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce Justice, State, Judiciary and Related Agencies, the U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said failure to approve the deal would allow other nations fill the gap by expanding their trade with China, leaving U.S. companies "frozen out."
The trade-relations debate in Congress also comes as China is seeking membership in the World Trade Organization. China has forged tariff-lowering agreements with all but a handful of the 135 WTO-member countries. Although China can technically gain WTO membership if two-thirds of the body's member states approve, such action is not likely without U.S. and European Union approval.
Once in the WTO, proponents of the trade package say, China could retaliate by freezing out U.S. imports while opening their market to other countries.
Last year, the value of goods imported from China -- mainly electrical machinery, toys, shoes and apparel -- topped $81.7 billion. In the same period, U.S. exports to China, consisting mostly of power generating equipment, airplanes and spacecraft, electrical machinery and fertilizer topped $13.1 billion.
Copyright 2000 by United Press International. All rights reserved.:
