FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, CONTACT: (202) 225-1721
January 31, 2000
FC-16
Congressman Bill Archer (R-TX), Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Committee will hold a hearing on the recently concluded bilateral trade agreement between the United States and China and on the pending accession of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The hearing will take place on Wednesday, February 16, 2000, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Oral testimony at this hearing will be from both invited and public witnesses. Also, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee or for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
China applied for accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in July 1986, and work has proceeded in the China Working Party since that time to negotiate the conditions upon which China will enter the WTO.
Article XII of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization states that any State or separate customs territory may accede to the WTO "on terms to be agreed between it and the WTO." In practice, any WTO applicant must negotiate terms for membership in the WTO in the form of a Protocol of Accession. Through the operation of a Working Party, the United States and other WTO members have an opportunity to review the trade regimes of applicants to ensure that they are capable of implementing WTO obligations. In parallel with the Working Party's efforts, the United States and other interested member governments conduct separate negotiations with the applicant. These bilateral negotiations are aimed at achieving specific concessions and commitments on tariff levels, agricultural market access, and trade in services.
On November 15, 1999, Ambassador Barshefsky announced the successful completion of bilateral talks on China's accession to the World Trade Organization. The expansive market access agreement will provide broad market openings for U.S. agriculture, manufactured products and services, along with Chinese commitments to adopt WTO rules relating to such issues as technology transfer and offsets, subsidies, product safeguards, and State enterprises. In a separate agreement signed in April 1999, China agreed to end sanitary and phytosanitary bans on the importation of U.S. wheat, meat, and citrus products.
The Agreement represents a crucial step in China's WTO accession process. Other steps that remain ahead include the conclusion of bilateral negotiations with a number of other WTO members, as well as the multilateral negotiations on China's accession protocol. China then must complete its domestic process for implementing the country's WTO commitments.
Congressional approval of permanent normal trade relations (NTR) is not necessary for China to accede to the WTO. However, in order for American businesses, farmers, and workers to be guaranteed an opportunity to benefit from the trade concessions and better compete in China's markets, China's name must be removed from Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974, the so-called Jackson-Vanik amendment, which provides for an annual review of China's trade status based on freedom of emigration.
Otherwise, the United States would be in violation of Article I of the GATT, which requires the extension of "unconditional" most favored nation (or NTR) status, and subject to trade sanctions. If the United States does not remove the conditions imposed by Jackson-Vanik, the United States would have to invoke the non-application clause of the GATT, meaning that China would be able to withhold benefits of the 1999 bilateral agreement from the United States.
In response to progress achieved in China's WTO commitments represented by the bilateral agreement with the United States, President Clinton announced that he will work with other WTO member countries to gain China's entry in the WTO as soon as possible and will seek the legislation from Congress to grant permanent NTR status to China.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Archer said: "One of the most important items for American workers, farmers and businesses this year is expanding trade with the most populous nation in the world. Whether we can actually capture these gains depends in large measure on the President's commitment to push for passage of legislation necessary to grant China permanent NTR trade status. I look forward to working with the President on opening China's borders to American-made products and services. As history has repeatedly shown, our economy and quality of life only grow stronger when we embrace international trade, not close our borders to it."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The focus of the hearing will be to examine: (1) the opportunities and issues associated with the entry of China into the WTO, and (2) the potential benefits of the U.S.-China bilateral trade agreement for U.S. firms, workers, farmers, ranchers, and other interested parties. The Committee would also welcome testimony on how progress of China's accession to the WTO affects the pending application of Taiwan to join the WTO and the potential impact on the United States, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong of normalized trade relations between the United States and China.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSIONS OF REQUESTS TO BE HEARD:
Requests to be heard at the hearing must be made by telephone to Traci Altman or Pete Davila at (202) 225-1721 no later than the close of business, Tuesday, February 8, 2000. The telephone request should be followed by a formal written request to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. The staff of the Committee will notify by telephone those scheduled to appear as soon as possible after the filing deadline. Any questions concerning a scheduled appearance should be directed to the Committee on staff at (202) 225-1721.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, the Committee may not be able to accommodate all requests to be heard. Those persons and organizations not scheduled for an oral appearance are encouraged to submit written statements for the record of the hearing. All persons requesting to be heard, whether they are scheduled for oral testimony or not, will be notified as soon as possible after the filing deadline.
Witnesses scheduled to present oral testimony are required to summarize briefly their written statements in no more than five minutes. THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. The full written statement of each witness will be included in the printed record, in accordance with House Rules.
In order to assure the most productive use of the limited amount of time available to question witnesses, all witnesses scheduled to appear before the Committee are required to submit 300 copies, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, of their prepared statement for review by Members prior to the hearing. Testimony should arrive at the Committee office, room 1102 Longworth House Office Building, no later than 10:00 a.m., Monday, February 14, 2000. Failure to do so may result in the witness being denied the opportunity to testify in person.
WRITTEN STATEMENTS IN LIEU OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Wednesday, March 1, 2000, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional
copies for this purpose to the Committee office, room 1102 Longworth House Office Building, by close of business the day before the hearing.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.