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US House Panel Blocks Funds to Monitor China Pact
A US House panel refused on Wednesday to fund a White House initiative that would ``monitor'' China's compliance with a landmark trade agreement, despite urgent pleas from the administration and key lawmakers preparing for China's entry to the World Trade Organisation.
Less than a month after the House of Representatives approved the market-opening pact, the Appropriations Committee voted 29-24 against providing the $21.2 million requested by President Bill Clinton to ensure Beijing meets its WTO obligations and to fund other trade compliance efforts.
White House officials were hopeful Congress would free up the money later in the legislative process, either on the House floor or in the Senate. If lawmakers refused, US efforts to enforce the China pact could be hampered. The pact itself would not be affected, and congressional aides said the House fight should have little impact on an upcoming Senate vote on permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) for China.
Backed by the White House, the Appropriations Committee's ranking Democrat, David Obey of Wisconsin, tried to add the compliance money to legislation funding the Justice, Commerce and State Departments in the fiscal year starting in October.
But most committee members said the budget was just too tight, given the need to increase spending for crime fighting and prison construction.
The White House and pro-trade lawmakers countered that the compliance initiative was more important than ever as China prepares to join the WTO later this year.
"We're going to continue to push for this. It's critical for the administration to obtain this funding," said Brendan Daly, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky's spokesman.
Commerce Secretary William Daley unveiled the compliance plan at a congressional hearing in May, hoping to shore up support in the House for legislation granting PNTR to China.
The initiative called for "accelerated investigations" of future trade complaints and for the creation of a "rapid response team" that would monitor Chinese compliance efforts.
US trade experts would be based at the embassy in China, and Washington would provide technical assistance to help Beijing meet its WTO obligations.
Barshefsky said it would be the largest monitoring and enforcement plan "for any agreement ever."
The initiative helped the Clinton administration gather support in the House for PNTR, which would end the annual ritual of reviewing China's trade status and permanently guarantee Chinese goods the same low-tariff access to U.S. markets as products from nearly every other nation.
China would, in turn, open a wide range of markets, from agriculture to telecommunications, to U.S. businesses under the terms of a landmark trade agreement signed in November 1999 ushering Beijing into the Geneva-based WTO.
Funding for the trade compliance initiative was cut last week by the House Appropriations subcommittee responsible for Justice, Commerce and State Department funding.
Since then, the administration has increased pressure on the House to restore the money.
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