China Trade: Clinton’s PR Task

President Clinton has little more than a month to convince Congress to grant China trading privileges on a permanent basis. He has deployed members of his Cabinet to sell the idea on Capitol Hill and personally spoken to several selected audiences on the virtues of open trade with China. But he has done little to build grass-roots support, even though trade union opponents of the deal have taken their case to the streets.

Clinton’s administration has struck a good bargain with China, one that merits granting Beijing permanent normal trade relations. Now he must convince Americans that they will gain from the deal. He must also explain that trading with China does not mean the United States must abandon its vigilance over Beijing’s abhorrent human rights practices.

Clinton, who proved in both of his presidential campaigns his ability to persuade voters, should have no difficulty selling the economic benefits of the trade agreement. In most trade deals, each side gives a little to reach common ground. In this case, all the concessions were made by Beijing and none by Washington. True, the U.S. market is already wide open to Chinese imports, while China retains high tariffs and quotas, among other impediments. But if there is anything that will help correct this imbalance, it is this agreement.

The trade deal also goes well beyond just lowering import tariffs and raising or eliminating quotas. It would require Beijing’s leaders to carry out economic reforms they might not otherwise do. For example, it would abolish the government’s trade monopoly and allow private companies to both trade and distribute their goods. Hollywood movie producers would not only see their exports to China double but all kinds of intellectual property would be better protected against piracy. The trade agreement paves China’s way into the World Trade Organization, where it would be subjected to even greater discipline by reams of international regulations and a dispute settlement mechanism.

Where Clinton will have to be at his most convincing is in separating the trade issue from a hodgepodge of objections, many of which hide protectionist agendas. Labor unions, for which an anti-trade stance is a tradition, and a variety of social justice groups oppose trading with China because of its poor human rights record or its environmental policies. Others object to trading with China because of its threats to regional security.

These are valid concerns, but granting Beijing trading privileges would not impede the U.S. government’s ability to engage China on any of those issues. The White House should demonstrate this by accepting Rep. Sander M. Levin’s (D-Mich.) proposal to set up a bipartisan commission to monitor human rights in China.

Clinton has demonstrated that he considers the U.S.-China trade deal important. He has yet to make his case before the American public.