See How Your Politicians Voted
Title: Conditional Extension of Most-Favored-Nation Trade Status to China
Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass a bill that prohibits the President from extending most-favored-nation trade status to China in 1993 (excluding non-state-owned enterprises), unless China has made "overall significant progress" in the areas of human rights, weapons proliferation, and trade practices.
Highlights:
- Prohibits the President from extending most-favored-nation trade status unless China has accounted for and released all individuals accused, detained, sentence, or imprisoned for nonviolent protest at Tiananmen Square on June 3 and 4, 1989 [sec. 3 (a) (1)].
- Establishes the following human rights objectives that China must demonstrate overall significant progress in achieving [sec. 3 (b)]:
- Preventing gross violations of internationally recognized human and workers' rights;
- Preventing the export of goods made by prisoners in detention facilities, and allowing U.S. and international intergovernmental organizations to inspect these facilities;
- Terminating religious persecution, and releasing leaders and members of religious groups accused, detained, sentence, or imprisoned for expressing their religious beliefs;
- Removing restrictions on freedom of the press;
- Terminating intimidation tactics against Chinese citizens in the United States;
- Ensuring freedom from torture in prisons;
- Terminating restrictions on peaceful demonstrations; and
- Cooperating with efforts to locate U.S. military personnel who were lost during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
- Establishes the following trade objectives that China must demonstrate overall significant progress in achieving [sec. 3 (c)]:
- Providing protection of U.S. patents, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights;
- Providing U.S. exporters fair access to Chinese markets, which includes the lowering of tariffs, removing non tariff barriers, and increasing the purchase of American goods and services; and
- Terminating "unfair trade practices against the United States."
- Establishes the following weapons proliferation objectives that China must demonstrate overall significant progress in achieving [sec. 3 (d)]:
- Abiding by the limitations and controls of the Missile Technology Control Regime;
- Abiding by the standards and guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group;
- Abiding by the standards and guidelines of the Australia Group on chemical and biological arms proliferation; and
- Assuring that China is not assisting any non-nuclear country in acquiring nuclear weapons or related materials.
- Specifies that most-favored-nation status will still apply to businesses, corporations, partnerships, qualified joint ventures, or any other person that is not a state-owned enterprise of the People's Republic of China, should the President determine that China has failed to make significant progress in complying with the above preconditions [sec. 4 (a)].
- Allows any person who believes that a particular business, corporation, partnership, or company should be included or excluded from designation as a state-owned enterprise to petition the Secretary of Treasury to review its status [sec. 4 (e)].