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US Senators See Agreement on China Vote in July
Key US senators said an agreement was within reach that should clear the way for a July vote on a landmark China trade bill, and aides said they expected an announcement as early as Friday.
The White House and Senate Democrats feared Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi would put the trade bill on hold until September or later, jeopardising its prospects for passage before the November election.
But Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said on Thursday he was optimistic the Senate would vote before the end of the month on legislation granting permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to China.
"I expect we'll find a way within the next two weeks," Daschle of South Dakota told reporters.
A spokesman for Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus was equally optimistic, saying PNTR was "very much alive for a July vote."
President Bill Clinton has made passage of PNTR his top legislative priority for his final year in office.
Once approved by the Senate and signed into law, the measure would end the annual ritual of reviewing Beijing's trade status and guarantee Chinese goods the same low-tariff access to US markets as products from nearly every other nation.
In exchange for the benefits, China would open a wide range of markets, from agriculture to telecommunications, to US businesses under the terms of a landmark agreement ushering China into the World Trade Organisation.
PNTR won House of Representatives approval in May. The powerful House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday reaffirmed its support for the pact, voting against a resolution that would have cut off Beijing's trade benefits until it becomes a full-fledged member of the WTO. The House is expected to reject the resolution later this month.
But Lott has refused to schedule a Senate vote, demanding that lawmakers first approve the China sanctions measure and complete work on key spending bills.
Hoping to break the deadlock, the White House sent Deputy Chief of Staff Steve Ricchetti and other top administration officials to Capitol Hill to work out a compromise on the sanctions bill, introduced by Tennessee Republican Sen. Fred Thompson. A similar bill has been introduced in the House.
Talks got underway Wednesday and continued Thursday. Senators and aides involved in the talks said progress was being made. "We're not going to resolve all the issues, but we can come close together and come away with something I think that most of us can be comfortable with," Thompson said.
As currently drafted, Thompson's bill would require the United States to impose sanctions against the Chinese government, companies and other groups if they help nations develop or acquire nuclear, chemical and other deadly weapons.
To address the concerns of farm-state lawmakers, Thompson has already agreed to exempt agricultural products and medicine from the proposed sanctions and said he was willing to make additional concessions.
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