Monday; Last Chance?>
Sunday September 26, 5:20 pm Eastern Time
U.S., China try to salvage WTO talks for the year
(Adds Time magazine report on WTO deal para 7)
By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Top U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators will meet on
Monday for what could be make-or-break talks on Beijing's bid to join the World Trade
Organization.
Although few expect a WTO agreement to be struck at the Washington meeting, U.S. officials are counting on Trade
Representative Charlene Barshefsky and her Chinese counterpart, Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng, to narrow their differences.
If talks founder, a pact ushering China into the world trade body could be dead for the year.
Beijing's accession would leave a lasting mark on U.S. trade policy and Bill Clinton's legacy as president, and give American
business leaders what they so desperately want -- access to China's vast market, potentially the world's largest with 1.2 billion
consumers.
But it could spark a backlash from a hostile Republican-controlled U.S. Congress, undermining U.S.-Sino ties, and put Vice
President Al Gore on a collision course with labor unions ahead of next year's election. Gore, the Democratic Party's
presidential front-runner, is counting on labor's support at the polls in 2000.
The deadline for China's accession is widely seen as late November, when WTO ministers launch the next round of global
trade talks in Seattle. Any delay could leave Beijing shut out of the global trading body for years.
A top Chinese diplomat told Time magazine that Beijing believes accession has been pretty much ''agreed upon'' by the United
States and China.
''If we can just have one final heave it will be possible, I think, to achieve what's in everybody's interest, that is ensuring that
China is a member of the most important international economic organization,'' Chris Patten, the European external relations
commissioner, said in Washington.
To join the WTO, which sets global trading rules, China must reach agreements with the United States and the European
Union, but talks with the EU hinge on a U.S. deal.
So far Barshefsky and Shi, who last met on Sept. 13 on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum
in New Zealand, have been hard-pressed to settle their differences over U.S. commercial access to Chinese markets.
The United States wants China to stand by previous market-opening proposals in such areas as agriculture and
telecommunications, but Beijing has yet to make a clear commitment.
Barshefsky is also under pressure from Clinton and members of Congress to wring additional concessions out of Beijing to
open China's financial and banking sectors, and to improve safeguards against surges in Chinese exports of steel and textiles.
The Chinese have balked at U.S. demands, insisting that Beijing be treated as a developing country, which would give it WTO
entry on easier terms.
That would outrage U.S. industry groups and their allies in Congress. As part of any pact, Clinton must convince lawmakers to
grant Beijing permanent most-favored nation status, which the United States now refers to as normal trade relations (NTR).
''Renegotiate the deal, get the White House to sign onto it, and make it happen,'' advised U.S. Chamber of Commerce
President Thomas Donohue, who has been frustrated by U.S. and Chinese waffling over a pact.
But even if Barshefsky and Shi wrap up negotiations on Monday or shortly thereafter, there is little chance China would win
congressional support for its bid to join the WTO this year, according to U.S. Republican leaders.
A record U.S. trade deficit, allegations that Beijing stole U.S. nuclear secrets, and concerns about Taiwan's security have
heightened lawmakers' opposition to expanded ties with China.
Well-organized labor unions, including the 13 million member AFL-CIO, have complicated matters by putting pressure on
Gore and other Democrats to block the trade pact unless Beijing frees jailed human and labor rights activists, and agrees to
improve labor standards at Chinese factories.
Unions worry a market-opening deal would flood the United States with cheap Chinese goods, putting Americans out of work.
A study released last week by the American Textile Manufacturers Institute warned that China's entry into the WTO could cost
the U.S. textile and apparel industries up to $12 billion and result in as many as 154,500 job losses.
''Even (U.S. lawmakers) that have a long-term commitment to freedom of trade, they're saying; 'I don't want to go home and
face the anger of my constituents if I vote for this,''' Dick Armey, the Republican majority leader in the U.S. House of
Representatives, told Reuters.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 38 percent of Americans favor China's entry into the WTO and 47
percent are opposed.
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