On second try, House passes bill to monitor US-China trade

27 July 2005 22:44  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (CNI)--The US House of Representatives approved legislation on Wednesday aimed at forcing China into tighter compliance with its trade obligations and shoring up support for a pending Central American trade deal in the process.

 

The bill, passed 255-167, would make it easier for companies to seek the application of US countervailing duties to subsidized exports from nonmarket economies such as China's. It would establish a system for monitoring and enforcing the foreign country’s compliance with trade agreements regarding access for US products and intellectual property.

 

It would also require the Treasury Department to report to Congress twice yearly on the application of China’s newly announced exchange rate mechanism.

 

Proponents of the bill argue such efforts are needed to help address China's trade surplus with the US, which were $162bn (Euro135bn) last year.

 

Sponsored by Representative Phil English (Republican - Pennsylvania), it was first defeated Tuesday.

 

Democrats lashed attacked the bill as being weaker than one they had offered, criticizing the measure as an opportunistic effort to garner votes of the Central American free trade agreement, a vote on which is planned for Wednesday evening.

 

While intended to show that the Bush administration will enforce international trade rules on trading partners, the bill also appeared engineered to put the minority party on the record as blocking a measure strengthening trade rule enforcement for China twice in the same week.

 

The prospects for Senate action on the measure remain unclear, but are doubtful, at least partially because of the Bush Administration's lack of enthusiasm for the measure.

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