{
  "id": "RL30175",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30175",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101219,
      "date": "2000-06-02",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:36:16.428941",
      "title": "China's Accession to the World Trade Organization: Legal Issues",
      "summary": "The People's Republic of China (PRC) applied to resume membership in the General Agreement\non\nTariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1986 and continues to negotiate its accession to GATT's successor,\nthe World Trade Organization (WTO). A country may join the WTO on terms agreed by the\napplicant and WTO Members if two-thirds of Members approve the country's accession agreement. \nA Member may \"opt out\" of WTO relations with another country by invoking Article XIII of the\nWTO Agreement, its \"non-application\" clause. The United States and the PRC agreed to bilateral\nterms for the PRC's accession in November 1999.\n  U.S. trade relations with the PRC are primarily governed by Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974. \nSection 402 of the Act (Jackson-Vanik Amendment) prohibits the extension of nondiscriminatory\ntrade treatment and other commercial benefits to the PRC unless it meets freedom-of-emigration\nrequirements or the requirements are annually waived. The PRC is also subject to nonmarket trade\nremedy provisions in Title IV and elsewhere. Section 1106 of the Omnibus Trade and\nCompetitiveness Act requires the President to make determinations as to the restrictive trade impact\nof a \"major foreign country's\" use of state trading companies before the country accedes to the\nWTO. Absent express legislative conditions or prohibitions, the President generally may approve\nthe accession of countries to international organizations to which the United States belongs, invoking\nauthority under the international agreement underlying U.S. participation as well as his constitutional\nforeign affairs authority. There is no statutory prohibition on U.S. approval of the PRC's accession\nto the WTO nor an express legislative requirement that the President necessarily obtain statutory\nauthorization before the United States may support this action. As a WTO Member, the United\nStates must grant immediate and unconditional most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment to like\nproducts of other WTO Members as to tariffs and other trade matters. Application of Title IV to a\nWTO Member is inconsistent with U.S. WTO obligations because of the conditions that it attaches\nto the grant of MFN treatment to the country's goods. Were the PRC to accede to the WTO and\nwere its accession terms not to permit the United States to derogate from MFN obligations, the\nUnited States would need to invoke Article XIII of the WTO Agreement or risk violating its MFN\nobligation as it pertains to the PRC.\n    H.R. 4444   (Archer), passed the House May 24, authorizes the\n President to extend\nnondiscriminatory treatment to the PRC's goods and in effect to render Title IV inapplicable to the\nPRC once it became a WTO Member, provided the President certifies to Congress that the PRC's\naccession terms are at least equivalent to those contained in the November bilateral agreement. It\nalso authorizes remedies for market disruption and trade diversion resulting from surges of Chinese\ngoods; establishes a governmental commission to monitor human rights practices in China; provides\nfor monitoring China's compliance with its WTO obligations; creates a task force focused on forced\nlabor imports from China; and addresses several other China-related issues.    S. 2277  \n(Roth), reported from the Senate Finance Committee May 25, contains Title IV termination\nprovisions that mirror those in the House bill. This report will be updated as events warrant.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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  ],
  "topics": [
    "American Law",
    "Constitutional Questions",
    "Foreign Affairs"
  ]
}