WASHINGTON-The Telecommunications Industry Association is joining other business sectors in backing President Clinton’s call for congressional passage this year of permanent Normal Trade Relations for China.
With China’s application for membership in the World Trade Organization looking increasingly favorable, U.S. telecom firms want to ensure they have as much access to the world’s largest emerging market as foreign competitors.
“China’s telecom sector is already exploding-telecom subscriber numbers are climbing, cell phone users are skyrocketing and infrastructure is being developed at a rate seldom seen in markets around the world,” said Matthew Flanigan, president of TIA. TIA is the largest trade group of U.S. telecom vendors.
The coming debate in Congress, which will pit big business and its allies against organized labor and its friends, will be watched closely by the wireless industry. Human rights advocates and environmentalists will team with labor in opposing favorable trade treatment for China.
Because China likely will leapfrog to wireless technology to satisfy its telecom needs, billions of dollars in contracts are at stake for U.S. companies.
Flanigan said Clinton’s appointment last month of two senior-level cabinet members to lead the fight on Capitol Hill for permanent NTR “indicates his administration’s commitment to opening China’s tremendous market to U.S. business.”
