The move, supported by AAM, would overturn China’s relatively low tariff rates and is likely to subject China’s trade situation to an annual review.
By 2025, Republicans will control the House, Senate, and White House. And unless minority Democrats step in to help. professional wrestling executives If we dismantle the Department of Education or Dr. Oprah cuts the budget for Medicare and Medicaid, there will be little chance of bipartisan agreement on major policy proposals.
China’s trade policy could also be one such opportunity. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), an independent branch of Congress, has released its annual report on U.S.-China trade, including its first ever. unanimously We support revoking the Permanent Normalization of Trade Relations (PNTR) status granted by the U.S. government to the Chinese government.
From USCC Recommendations:
PNTR status allows China to benefit from the same trade terms as U.S. allies, even though it engages in activities such as intellectual property theft and market manipulation. Repealing the PNTR would reintroduce annual reviews of China’s trade practices and could increase U.S. leverage in addressing unfair trade practices. The move would signal a shift toward a more aggressive trade policy aimed at protecting American industry and workers from economic coercion.
This is a big deal. China’s PNTR status was established as part of its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001, and it has been “the cornerstone of U.S.-China trade policy” ever since, the paper notes. washington post:
President-elect Donald Trump has already promised to raise tariffs on Chinese goods by 60 percent, and Congressional approval to revoke China’s preferential trading status would be one way to do that. Prior to the establishment of tariff limits and PNTR status under U.S. law, China faced much higher tax rates that were subject to annual Congressional review.
Such a move could put China in the same trade quota as Cuba, North Korea, Russia and Belarus.
The United States Manufacturing Alliance has long proposed this measure, citing decades of unfair trade practices by China. Here’s what AAM Chairman Scott Paul said at the first hearing of the House China Committee: February last year:
The (Chinese Communist Party) has increased industrial subsidies, strengthened (state-owned enterprises), continued to massacre ethnic minorities, sided with Vladimir Putin, broken promises on Hong Kong, and become more aggressive in the South China Sea and maritime areas. Ta. China is increasing its threatening stance toward Taiwan. Despite empty promises, the Chinese government continues these egregious activities that harm human rights, American businesses, and American workers. The Chinese Communist Party does not deserve the same trading status as allies such as Taiwan, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
Republicans and Democrats on the committee came close to fully supporting the idea. last yearbasically calling for a renegotiation of China’s PNTR. And Congressman John Moolener (R-Mich.), chairman of the China Committee, recently introduced the following: law To cancel it completely.
While the new Congress begins with narrow margins that make it difficult to pass partisan legislation, bills that reshape the contours of China’s trade relationship, such as repealing the PNTR, are likely to garner bipartisan support. It’s worth paying attention to.
