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US Congress Votes for Normal Trade Relations with China
The US House of Representatives Thursday voted overwhelmingly to extend normal trade relations with China as requested earlier by President George W. Bush.
The house, by a vote of 259-169, shot down a motion calling for overturning Bush's decision.
Supporters argued that it would be short-sighted to suspend normal trade relations with China, considering that China is about the join the World Trade Organization (WTO) and would open its vast market to more U.S. goods and services.
Democrat Representative Jim Moran from Virginia said: "We have much to lose, and little to gain, by failing to continue our current trade relationship with China."
The Congress last year adopted a bill to set up permanent normal trade relations with China and put an end to the two-decade-old practice of reviewing the trade status annually. But that will not take effect until China's accession to the WTO.
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