(TibetanReview.net, Nov18’24) –A bill has been introduced in the US House of Representatives on Nov 14, following the one in the Senate earlier this year, proposing to revoke China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status with the United States.
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) introduced the bill, proposing to suspend normal trade relations with China, revoking the status Congress conferred on the nation in 2000 under President Bill Clinton as it was about to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The bill, Restoring Trade Fairness Act, would revoke China’s PNTR status. Its Senate version was introduced earlier this year by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).
PNTR is a fair trade agreement, formerly known as “most favoured nation” status and the legislation passed in 2000 negated the need for Congress to vote to renew China’s trade status as it had done annually since 1980.
The agreement slashed tariffs on Chinese imports, with lawmakers reasoning that WTO regulations would obligate China to adhere to fair market trade practices.
The PNTR legislation was passed with the aim of keeping the United States competitive with China’s trade partners in Europe, and the belief that Beijing’s adherence to WTO rules would “promote reform in China” and create stability in the Asia–Pacific region.
Despite PNTR’s original intent to encourage fair trade with China, Moolenaar has said it has had the opposite effect.
“Having permanent normal trade relations with China has failed our country, eroded our manufacturing base, and sent jobs to our foremost adversary,” Moolenaar has said.
“The Restoring Trade Fairness Act will … protect our national security, support supply chain resilience, and return manufacturing jobs to the US and our allies.”
By revoking China’s trade status, imports would not be subject to the United States’ standard tariff rates, which are the lowest of all WTO members, noted theepochtimes.com Nov 14.
The only countries the United States does not currently grant normal trade relations status are Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, and Russia, the report said.
Moolenaar has said China had effectively lost PNTR status with the previous Donald Trump and the current Joe Biden administrations’ tariffs, and the bill codifies these changes.