Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. form letter to constituent, May 17, 2000

ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR. Congress of tfjc Uniteb States $ouet of 3&epresentatibrs ASSISTANT DEPUTY MAJORITY WHIP ©HaEfftington, 2ЭС 20515-2002 May 17, 2000 Dear Thank you for contacting me regarding Congressional Approval of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with the People’s Republic of China. I value your thoughts on this important matter. I have given much thought to our relationship with China, and I have traveled there in an effort to understand Chinese positions and communicate American concerns. I believe in free trade, and I have seen the benefits of America’s pursuit of free trade in the past decade. I also support continued U.S. membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), which opens foreign markets to American goods and allows the United States to develop stronger relations with developing nations. As you may know, on January 19, 2000, President Clinton announced he would “launch an all-out effort” to lobby Congress to grant permanent normalized trade relations (once known as “most-favored nation”) status for China. Since 1993, the Clinton Administration has pursued an “engagement-at-any-price” policy with the People’s Republic of China. In addition, President Clinton has negotiated to bring China into the WTO, opening American markets further to Chinese imports. While Congress has no official role in allowing China to join the WTO, I will vote against any measure which grants permanent normalized trade relations with China. For the following reasons I remain suspicious that the government of China has not shown itself worthy of a premier trading status with the United States at this time. First, U.S. - Chinese trade is largely a one-way street. The government of the People’s Republic of China has constructed and preserved several major barriers to hinder American goods entering that country. Accordingly, over the past 10 years, the U.S. trade deficit with China has grown significantly, largely due to a surge in U.S. imports of Chinese goods relative to U.S. exports to China. Between 1989 and 1998, U.S. exports to China increased by 147%, while U.S. imports from China surged by 493%. In 1989, the United States had a $6.2 billion trade deficit with China. This deficit surged to $68 billion in 1999, making China the second largest deficit trading partner of the United States, behind Japan. The situation has only grown worse.