Democrat May Block Vote on U.S. Trade Rep

A Democratic senator on Tuesday threatened to block President Bush’s nominee for U.S. trade representative unless the Senate considered his bill to make it easier for U.S. firms to pursue trade complaints against China.

Without a quick resolution, the move by Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana could delay approval of Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) as U.S. trade chief and slow progress on several key trade issues. Those include congressional approval of a controversial trade pact with Central America, negotiations on a global free-trade pact and a high-profile dispute with Europe over aerospace subsidies.

Bayh, an outspoken critic of U.S. trade policy, said he didn’t oppose Portman’s nomination but believed that he had to demonstrate to Republican leadership that he was serious about stopping trade practices by China that he thinks are illegal.

His bill, which has broad bipartisan support, would allow the Commerce Department to impose “countervailing duties” on subsidized imports from so-called non-market economies such as China.

By placing a hold on Portman’s nomination, Bayh can prevent the Senate from taking a vote. The White House has not yet submitted Portman’s name to the Senate for confirmation.

“We haven’t been able to get the attention of the powers that be,” said Bayh, who was unable to get a vote on the trade legislation last year. Bayh said Portman “deserves a vote. This amendment deserves a vote. It’s unfortunate the way Congress works that these things have to be tied together.”

White House spokeswoman Erin Healey said Tuesday that the president was willing to work with Congress to gain approval of Portman, whose position she described as crucial. But administration officials declined to comment on Bayh’s action or the specifics of his bill.

Bayh’s announcement caught even his supporters by surprise and is certain to further escalate the partisan tensions in Washington that have Democrats sparring with the Bush administration over nominees to head up several high-profile agencies, the World Bank and the ambassadorship to the United Nations.

“This certainly does not generate support for free-trade policy,” said Frank Vargo, an executive with the National Assn. of Manufacturers, a strong supporter of Bayh’s bill.

Although the recent spate of holds has received a lot of attention, there is a long tradition of senators using their power to hold up nominations of either party to bring publicity to a pet cause, said Norm Ornstein, a congressional expert at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

Portman’s office declined to comment on the potential roadblock in what was expected to be a smooth confirmation process.

Bayh said Tuesday that his goal was to force the Senate’s leaders to put his bill to a vote. The ballooning U.S. trade deficit with China, which grew to $162 billion last year, and the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs has fueled support in Congress for measures aimed at slowing China’s export juggernaut.

Bayh’s legislation, known as the Stopping Overseas Subsidies Act, aims to change a decades-old decision by the Commerce Department not to apply anti-subsidy laws to countries such as China that are labeled as non-market economies. The U.S. government said it would be too difficult to determine whether subsidies exist in countries where governments play integral roles in the economy.

But Bayh argues that U.S. firms need a way to recoup their losses if they are competing against Chinese firms that are given questionable subsidies such as loans that are not repaid or free rent in government-owned facilities. He also supports legislation that would penalize China for keeping its currency artificially weak, which makes its exports cheaper.

Chu Mao Ming, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said China was willing “to work with the U.S. to handle these problems.”

Daniel Griswold, a trade expert at the Cato Institute, said the United States could easily correct the problem by declaring China a market economy, a status it has already given Russia. Then, U.S. firms could use anti-subsidy laws against China.

But the National Assn. of Manufacturers and other U.S. manufacturing groups oppose that because it would be harder to win dumping cases if China is declared a market economy.