China trade bill may have to wait

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

NEW YORK, JUNE 14. At a time when the Clinton administration is hoping for a quick vote in the Senate on the Permanent Normal Trade Relations for China, it is getting the word that the Majority Leader, Mr. Trent Lott, is not in any great hurry to schedule a vote. Given the stakes in an election year, the administration and the White House came away with a big win in the House of Representatives last month and the Bill has little to no problems in the Senate. Mr. Lott's position, at least on the face of it, has little to do with politics or any intention to deny the President a triumph on a key foreign policy issue. His stance is that rushing to a vote will bring forth a number of attachments and amendments that could dilute the Bill, if not render it counter- productive.

The apprehension in some quarters is that the hardline Conservatives keen to leave their anti-China imprint on the measure - that among other things approves the deal to bring China into the World Trade Organisation - will offer amendments that would force the Bill into a conference session with the House and another round of voting in the House. It is believed that at least 63 Senators are for the PNTR, enough to over-ride any filibuster attempts.

Mr. Lott, for instance, is keen on addressing some of the concerns posed by his Republican colleagues before taking up the PNTR for a final vote. Mr. Fred Thompson, Senator, has called for legislation that deals with Beijing's weapons proliferation - a topic that will surely have other Conservatives signing on to this. And there are other traditionalist Republicans who are keen on taking Beijing to task on human rights and belligerence towards Taiwan.

The administration and the White House used all their energies last month to get the measure passed in the House in spite of difficult obstacles placed by the Democrats who were obviously worried about the labour vote. In the Senate, there is a very broad bi-partisan support for the PNTR and a vote had originally been scheduled for this month. But for the solid support of the Republicans, the PNTR would have been defeated as two out of three Democrats voted against the Bill.

The major problem in the Senate passage is in the language as also in the kind of amendments that are going to come along with the Bill. The administration and the pro-PNTR forces know all too well that if the language differs between the House and the Senate it is back to square one; and a fresh vote is all the more troublesome as it would be even closer to election time and political campaigning.

The business community in the U.S. has been pushing for the PNTR and is obviously urging the Senate to get on with the voting. The organised labour has come to accept the ground realities; but at the same time is not expected to turn its back against the Democrats in the Fall election. In the vote in the House that was quite reflective of the constituencies' interest, individual members kept their vote banks in mind.

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Section  : International
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