Byron Dorgan: “I noticed that China decided recently that it is going to ban direct marketing in China. That means that Amway, Avon…”

“I noticed that China decided recently that it is going to ban direct marketing in China. That means that Amway, Avon, Mary Kay Corporation and similar companies are told they cannot any longer direct market. Apparently, some scams were going on in China--not by these companies, mind you--that was causing some problems, so China just said no more direct marketing in this country. Our trade ambassador, Charlene Barshefsky, immediately went into action and met with China's Minister, Wu Yi, on Friday to discuss the issue. And that is fine. I do not know much about Mary Kay, Avon or Amway, but they are aggrieved. They are legitimate businesses, but China has banned them. They ought to be able to do business in China. I think it is fine for the trade ambassador to jump in and say, ``Why don't you own up to our trade agreements here and let these people market?'' But I just ask this: Could we be as aggressive on behalf of wheat and meat as we are on behalf of cosmetics? Could we be as aggressive on behalf of farmers who cannot get enough wheat into China? We have been dealing with China for a decade on this thing called TCK smut. China, for example, has displaced America as the major wheat supplier to China, even as they send us all their shirts and shoes and trousers and trinkets. And they have ratcheted up this huge trade surplus with us, but we cannot get enough wheat into China. We cannot get enough meat into China. We can't get hardly any pork into China.”