Translation:
"Do as we say,
Not as we do."
[Several articles below]
WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are unhappy that the Bush administration continues to refuse to bring a trade case against China over a currency system that U.S. manufacturers say has contributed to a loss of millions of jobs and a soaring trade deficit.
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U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman on Friday rejected the latest petition for a trade case, filed in April by 12 senators and 22 House members. It marked the third time the administration has rejected similar petitions claiming that China should be brought before the World Trade Organization on charges it is engaging in unfair trade practices by keeping its currency, the yuan, tightly linked to the U.S. dollar.
"For a third time, the administration is turning a blind eye to China's unfair trade practices," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the lawmakers who brought the petition.
Some lawmakers said Congress may have to act by passing legislation sponsored by Schumer and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that would impose across-the-board 27.5 percent tariffs on all Chinese products coming into the United States unless China drops its fixed link to the dollar.
"If the administration continues to refuse to use existing WTO rules, Congress will take other actions," said Maryland Rep. Benjamin Cardin, the senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee. "This is a serious issue that harms American workers and businesses each day it continues."
Last fall, a group of unions and manufacturing companies sought to bring pressure on the administration during the closing weeks of the presidential campaign by asking for a case to be brought under a provision of U.S. trade law known as Section 301. It would allow for economic sanctions to be imposed on China if the WTO ruled in this country's favor and China still refused to change its currency system.
The administration rejected that request and a petition filed in November by lawmakers.
In a statement Friday, Portman spokesman Richard Mills said that while the administration thinks China should move to a flexible, market-based currency system, "we do not believe that a Section 301 action is an appropriate or a productive way to achieve that action."
The latest rejection came just over a week after the Treasury Department, in a semiannual report to Congress, refused to cite China as a country that manipulates its currency gain trade advantages.
U.S. manufacturers contend that China's fixed currency system has undervalued the yuan by as much as 40 percent, making Chinese products cheaper in the domestic market and American goods more expensive in China.
Critics say this practice has contributed to the loss of 3 million U.S. manufacturing jobs over the past five years and saddled the United States with soaring trade deficits that hit a record $617 billion last year. That included a $162 billion imbalance with China, the largest ever recorded with a single country.
Treasury Secretary John Snow, in congressional testimony Thursday, predicted that China would move to make its currency system more flexible over the next five months, before the administration must make its next report on Congress on the issue on Oct. 15.
The administration, which initially argued that China should allow its currency to float freely with its value set by global currency markets, now contends that such a move would be too disruptive in the near term. But it argues that an interim step that would introduce more flexibility should be taken.
While the administration has not specified what that step should be, currency experts say China could link the yuan's value to a group of currencies from other countries, not just the dollar, or it could create a band within which the currency could trade.
Frank Vargo, vice president for international affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers, said that while his group was disappointed that the administration had not cited China in the current report, he believes it has sent a strong signal that China will be cited in October if it has not moved by then.
source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/29/AR2005052900158_pf.html 31may2005
WASHINGTON — US President George W. Bush said Tuesday that he expected China, which is embroiled in trade disputes with the United States and European Union, to "deal with world trade in a fair way."
"On the one hand, we ought to look at China as an economic opportunity, and the best way to deal with China is to say look, there (are) some rules," Bush said at a White House press conference.
"We expect China to deal with world trade in a fair way," Bush said.
WASHINGTON — The mammoth US trade deficit with China and Beijing's apparent intransigence in curbing it are ratcheting up the rhetoric in Washington as lawmakers urge US President George W. Bush to get tough. Calls for action include dragging China before the WTO and pressure for Beijing to revalue the yuan, which US manufacturers claim is making Chinese exports unfairly cheap.
"We need to be aggressive," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said.
"We need to push on all fronts: Transshipment, pegging their currency, intellectual property theft. We need to hit them hard and hit them across the board," he said.
The US trade gap with China was US$162 billion last year, more than the entire deficit just a few years ago.
RESOLUTION
Graham last week proposed a Senate resolution that would urge the US Trade Representative to "immediately initiate a case" against China through the WTO's dispute settlement process for allegedly not doing enough to combat intellectual property rights infringements.
The lawmaker, who says that "intellectual property theft is rampant in China," believes an "overwhelming" majority of lawmakers would support the measure and said he hopes for a vote soon.
Should the Senate go on the record on China's trade abuses, Graham believes that the "Chinese will understand that if they want to be a member of the family of nations, they need to play by the rules."
Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, who is co-sponsoring the resolution, also put some blame on the Bush administration. Asked what the White House could do to reduce last year's record US$617 billion trade deficit, the lawmaker said that the administration "needs to get a backbone."
Last month, the administration raised China to its Priority Watch List "for failure to effectively protect intellectual property rights and to meet its commitment to significantly reduce infringement levels, despite efforts by China's senior leadership to do so."
MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL
Dorgan said the White House needs to demand that the trade relationship with China is mutually beneficial. He believes that it is currently "hugely beneficial for China" and "very negative for our country."
Robert Portman, the new US Trade Representative, appears to be an ally of those who want to take a tougher stance on China's trade policies.
During his confirmation process, Portman said China often breaks trade rules and the first thing he would do in his new post would be to order a "top-to-bottom review of all of our trade issues with China." Portman took the oath of office late last month.
"I think we need a tougher approach," Portman said during his Senate confirmation.
"I think we need to hold China to this WTO commitment," he said.
Critics' concerns go beyond copyright breaches. They also say China should revalue its currency and prevent the counterfeiting of goods.
China is also accused of illegally subsidizing some of its industries, such as its textile manufacturers, and US unions and some lawmakers are highly critical of China's labor and environmental policies. The US recently raised trade barriers for some Chinese textiles after an international quota system expired in January, and opened the market to a flood of Chinese-produced goods.
Though China is a key US trading partner, it is also a diplomatic ally in the Bush administration's efforts to deal with North Korea and its nuclear weapons.
But Dorgan said trade is one thing and the North Korea talks are another.
"Trade should stand on its own" and not be influenced by foreign policy considerations, Dorgan said.
Page 9
source: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2005/05/30/2003257234 31may2005
WASHINGTON — US President George W. Bush said that he sees China as an economic opportunity and expects China to deal with world trade in a fair way.
"I think the relationship with China's a very complex relationship," Bush said at a White House press conference on May 31.
"On one hand, we ought to look at China as an economic opportunity," he said. "And the best way to deal with China is to say, 'Look, there are some rules, and we expect you to abide by the trade rules.'"
"And as (China) grows and as trade becomes more complex, you'll see more and more instances where the United States is insisting upon fair trade," Bush said. "We expect China to deal with the world trade in a fair way."
Bush spoke as his administration announced that two top officials — US Trade Representative Rob Portman and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez — will visit Beijing for bilateral discussions on trade amid increasing trade frictions between the two countries.
The move comes as the European Union and United States impose curbs on textile imports from China, and in response, China scraps export tariffs on a range of textile products on June 1.
Textiles is one of several areas of contention between Beijing and Washington, which has also been pressing China to change its currency policy as well.
"China is a fascinating country that is significant in its size," Bush continued. "Its economy is still small, but growing.”
Bush also said China "can be a very good partner in helping to secure the world.
"The best way to convince (North Korean leader) Kim Jong Il to get up and give up his weapons is to have more than one voice saying the same thing," Bush said.
"And therefore China is a partner in this case in terms of helping to secure that part of the world from nuclear weapons," he said.
"China, as well, can be helpful in the war on terror," Bush said. "They're just as concerned as we are on the war on terror."
source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-06/01/content_447606.htm 31may2005
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