Max Baucus: “I do not have first hand knowledge of the situation, but it is troubling to hear of U.S. businesses running into such…”

“I do not have first hand knowledge of the situation, but it is troubling to hear of U.S. businesses running into such difficulties. I read the written statement that the U.S. sponsor of this project submitted to the Senate Finance Committee last spring. Two things struck me. One is that the mediator split the difference. He split the difference between the price for electricity proposed by the Tangshan pricing bureau and the minimum price that the U.S. developer of the project said it needed in order to avoid defaulting on the project debt. The other thing that struck me is, although this was no great result for the U.S. developer, all the developer is seeking at this point is to have the mediator's recommendation implemented. I would like to read a paragraph from the statement that the U.S. sponsor of the project submitted to the Senate Finance Committee. This is the president of the company speaking. "I am not here to ask you or your colleagues to grant or deny China PNTR status. I am here to relate a story of how one U.S. company fared when it tried to supply electricity to the Chinese. Unfortunately, we have come to find that our experience is not all that uncommon. However, in our case, the consequences are potentially disastrous because Panda had to guarantee the U.S. bondholders that they would be repaid.…”