U.S. May Limit China Trade Status, Aide Says
The United States is likely to put conditions on the trade status that lets billions of dollars in Chinese goods enter the U.S. market cheaply each year, a U.S. official in Beijing said Wednesday.
Such a decision by the Clinton Administration to put pressure on Beijing over human rights, trade and the sale of weapons could set the stage for greatly increased tension between the two nations, political analysts said.
China has said repeatedly it would not accept conditions on its most-favored-nation trade status.
The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity after Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord met Chinese officials, did not specify what the conditions would be.
But he said that the United States and China have “very serious problems that need resolution if we’re going to move forward.”
He said the key areas are China’s human rights record, its huge trade surplus with the United States and its alleged weapons sales.
President Clinton must decide by June 3 whether to renew China’s most-favored-nation trade status conditionally or unconditionally.
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