US senators act to repeal China PNTR status
(Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-02-10 10:44

That kind of distortion is likely to appear once again on February 10, when the U.S. Commerce Department is expected to announce that America's trade deficit with China swelled to a record $200 billion in 2005, the newspaper said.

It may look as though China is getting the big payoff, but over all, the biggest winners are consumers in the United States and other rich countries, who have benefited enormously from China's production of cheaper toys, clothing, electronics and other goods.

At the same time, U.S. multinationals and other foreign companies, including retailers, are big winners, because they are the largely invisible hands behind the factories pumping out inexpensive goods from China. And they are reaping the bulk of the profit from the trade, the paper said.

Senators Unhappy

"There's nothing normal or fair about any of these methods," Dorgan, the Democratic senator from North Dakota, told a joint news conference with Graham, a South Carolina legislator from President George W. Bush's Republican Party. "I think we have reached the tipping point on the issue of China. It cheats in a way that hurts this country," he said.

Graham acknowledged the legislative action was "drastic in the sense of politics" but added: "I think it's necessary in the sense of business." The PNTR status, he said, should only be granted to China on an annual basis subject to progress on reforms scrutinized by Congress.

The lawmakers did not say when they plan to debate or push for a vote on the bill but the move comes as U.S. President George W. Bush prepares to welcome his Chinese counterpart, President Hu Jintao, in April.