WASHINGTON-The wireless industry’s push to enter the populous Chinese market got a big boost last week as several undecided Democrats and Republicans announced they will vote for permanent normal trade relations with China, a swing in momentum driven by stepped-up lobbying from the Clinton administration and high-tech firms.
With a House vote just two weeks away, supporters of China trade legislation appear to be reaching a stage of critical mass.
Last Wednesday, four top Clinton administration officials (Commerce Secretary William Daley, Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky and Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman) marched up to Capitol Hill and reached out to the national media to advocate for China PNTR.
Congress votes each year whether to renew normal trade relations with China. The China trade bill pending in Congress would make it permanent, a result critics say would take away U.S. leverage in dealing with China on political, military, trade and human-rights fronts.
As an enticement to wavering lawmakers, administration officials proposed to create a commission to oversee human rights, labor rights and religious freedoms and to vigorously enforce China’s compliance with World Trade Organization rules.
Last fall, President Clinton agreed to support China’s membership in the WTO in exchange for trade concessions that would enable foreign investment of up to 50 percent in Chinese wireless services and further open the equipment market to American equipment vendors.
Daley highlighted the economic and political benefits of injecting more high technology into an Asian market of 1.3 billion people with very little telecom infrastructure.
“Wireless communications has put cell phones in the hands of 40 million Chinese (only a fraction of the potential market) and given them access to a world of ideas and influences,” said Daley in written testimony. He added that China is the world’s fastest-growing telecommunications market.
Motorola Inc., a top U.S. mobile communications supplier, added its voice to the pro-China trade drive by taking out a quarter-page ad on the Federal Page of the The Washington Post.
“No issue before Congress will have a greater impact on America’s ability to compete in the New Economy than the vote to open China’s market to American goods and services,” said Chris Galvin, chairman and chief executive officer of Motorola.
The ad included a small picture of Galvin and two larger pictures of a mobile phone and a pager. A message begins on the phone’s display screen, “If we don’t sell products to China” and ends on the pager, “someone else will.”
In recent years, Motorola, Lucent Technologies Inc., Qualcomm Inc. and other U.S. firms have increased their presence in Communist China.
Rep. Robert Matsui (D-Calif.), Clinton’s point-man on China trade in the House, last week said he has assurances from 58 lawmakers of the 70-to-80 lawmakers he believes will vote for the China trade bill.
About 150 Republicans are expected to support China PNTR. To pass the measure, 218 votes are needed.
Debate on the House floor begins the week of May 22. Passage of the China trade bill by the Senate, which takes up the legislation in June, is virtually guaranteed.
The China trade issue has created friction between the Democrats and the high-tech industry and has given rise to odd coalitions.
After House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) announced he would vote against the China trade bill three weeks ago, the high-tech industry threatened to shift campaign money away from Democrats to Republicans. Matsui replied he might rethink his support for the China trade bill.
“They can’t do that. They can’t mischaracterize our leader’s position on this,” Matsui told RCR last week.
Matsui contends the high-tech industry should have assumed Gephardt would vote against China PNRT.
As for himself, Matsui said, “I’m still keeping an open mind.”
Meanwhile, organized labor, liberal Democrats, protectionist Republicans, human-rights advocates, environmentalists and others are waging an all-out fight to kill the China trade measure.
