Benjamin Gilman: “Beijing even refuses to renounce the use of force against Taiwan. Our Nation should base our foreign policy, including…”

“Beijing even refuses to renounce the use of force against Taiwan. Our Nation should base our foreign policy, including trade, on the values that have made our Nation an indispensable Nation in the world community for democracy, for freedom, for human rights and the rule of law. But, even if one believes that such issues such as human rights and weapons proliferation should not be linked to trade, continued MFN for China is a bad trade deal for our Nation. Beijing continues to impose a 23-percent tariff on American goods shipped to China, while Chinese products entering our market enjoy a preferential 4-percent tariff under MFN. The trade deficit with China is now over $60 billion, that is with a 'b', $60 billion, up 33 percent from only 2 years ago. Our trade deficit with China will soon be the largest, even bigger than with Japan. The United States has been trying to negotiate a market opening trade agreement with China for the last 5 years, with no end in sight. And thanks to the trade advantage conferred by MFN, China now sends 33 percent of its exports to our Nation, but only 2 percent of our exports go to China. Continual renewal of MFN status, which, by the way, was never given to the Soviet Union, gives China no incentive to open its markets to American goods or to make its economy more competitive. While I am on the side of American business, American business is not being treated fairly in the Chinese market.”