2 Californians Team Up for China Trade

It’s hardly surprising that two of California’s leading congressmen don’t always see eye to eye.

After all, Robert Matsui and David Dreier have a lot that separates them.

Matsui is a serious, soft-spoken Japanese American from Northern California (Sacramento), who has risen to become an influential and respected member of the Democratic caucus during his 22 years in the House.

Dreier, an extroverted, Missouri-born graduate of Claremont Men’s College, has his roots firmly in the Southland (he represents San Dimas). And he’s a committed Reagan Republican.

Indeed, his current job as chairman of the House Rules Committee makes Dreier one of his party’s most powerful members, presiding over the process that decides which bills come to the floor and how they are handled after they get there.

But on one key issue--trade--the two California lawmakers share a common view. Free global trade, they both insist, is crucial, both for California’s economic well-being and for the prosperity of America as a whole.

And so the two veterans--one Republican, one Democrat--have joined forces across the political divide to lead the fight for passage of a bill that some believe will be a signature issue of the Clinton presidency: normalizing the large and growing trade between the United States (the world’s largest exporter) and China (the world’s most populous nation).

*

Just as the diplomatic opening to Beijing is widely seen as President Richard M. Nixon’s single greatest accomplishment, normalizing trade with China and paving the way for its entry into the World Trade Organization may well be the centerpiece of Clinton’s legacy, Dreier believes.

“This is the single most important vote we’ll have in this Congress,” Dreier said. A vote is expected in late May.

It’s not the first time that Matsui and Dreier have worked together on trade legislation. In 1993, their efforts helped win passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which opened up the country’s commercial frontiers with Canada and Mexico. That experience forged a sense of common interest and mutual respect between the two men that managed to survive the bitterly contested impeachment battle two years ago and lingering strains across the political aisle.

“He’s someone you can rely on, someone who has his ideological compass where he wants it to be, not just on trade but on other issues, too,” Matsui says of his Republican colleague. “He’s pragmatic, someone I can work with.”

Dreier tosses similar verbal bouquets Matsui’s way: “Bob is a hard worker, a thoughtful guy and . . . [a] friend.”

Aides say the two talk frequently, either by telephone or informally on the House floor, to plot strategy and compare numbers in the “pro” and “con” columns on the China trade measure.

The fact that House leaders of both parties turned to Californians to lead efforts to pass such important legislation reflects the issue’s importance to the Golden State.

“I doubt whether you’d see a member from Michigan or Ohio play the role we do,” Matsui said in a recent interview. “Clearly, there’s no question that what we’re doing fits with the interests of our districts and our state in a significant way.”

*

According to Commerce Department statistics, California ranks second among states in exports to China, just behind Washington state, the home of Boeing. It is also a huge importer of goods from China.

Perched on a couch in his spacious, third-floor Capitol office, Dreier noted that international trade and high technology reinvigorated the state’s economy during the second half of the 1990s. These same sectors will sustain it during the early part of the new century, he said.

“I like to think of the state as being the Silk Road of the third millennium,” Dreier said, referring to the ancient trade route linking imperial China to lucrative markets in Europe and the Mediterranean. “This is absolutely vital to the continued economic success we enjoy in California.” For supporters of normal trade ties with China, the move has an added, national security dimension because open trade and greater personal contact with the United States and other countries will expose the Chinese mainland to Western values and ideas.

Despite all this, the two congressmen find themselves in a fierce battle to find the votes needed for passage.

Opponents of the legislation--including several California members--fear that a favorable vote could trigger the flight of thousands of skilled jobs to China and eliminate an important source of U.S. leverage to improve China’s abysmal human rights and labor standards record.

While a majority of Democrats, many of whom are under intense pressure from trade unions, still oppose the bill, both Matsui and Dreier believe they can win the fight.

“It’s going to be a difficult vote for many of my colleagues,” admitted Matsui, “but if we get this vote in a timely fashion [by the end of May], ultimately we’re going to win it.”