US committee backs China deal

Key Congress vote on trade with China is looming

By BBC News Online's Kevin Anderson in Washington

A key US Congressional committee has given its support to a Bill which would allow China permanent trade privileges.

The vote in the House Ways and Means Committee paves the way for a further vote by all members of the House of Representatives and Senate next week.

The legislation is in response to last year's trade deal between Washington and Beijing, which granted improved access to American goods in China in return for US support for China's membership of the World Trade Organisation.

Among the supporters is President Clinton, who has made it a top priority for his last months in office.

The president, who has been lobbying hard for the Bill from coast to coast, said: "I believe that a No vote invites a future of dangerous confrontation and constant insecurity.

"It also by the way forfeits the largest market in the world for our goods and services and gives Europe and Japan all those benefits we negotiated to bring American jobs here at home."

Supporters and opponents of the legislation alike are describing next week's vote as one of the most important in generations.

The business community has had to counter criticism of China

For now, that vote looks too close to call, at least in the House of Representatives.

The latest poll shows a virtual dead-heat between firm supporters and opponents, with almost 80 Congressmen describing themselves as undecided.

Business groups are working overtime to drive home the importance of the deal and win passage of the trade pact.

"This is one of the most important business issues to come along in a generation," said Bill Morley, chief trade lobbyist with the US Chamber of Commerce.

John Schachter with the Business Roundtable, said: "The vote coming up is the most critical economic and foreign policy vote in a long time."

Businesses in the US see the trade deal as opening up unprecedented access to China's 1.4 million people.

"We have mobilised the business community like never before," he said.

The chamber has told the organisation's leaders that this is a huge priority, and "they are putting their money where their mouth is", Mr Morley said.

Lobbying congress

The US Chamber of Commerce has 16 full-time lobbyists working on the issue in Washington.

But the effort extends far beyond Capitol Hill. The chamber's 13 regional directors and managers and state and local chambers have been working across the country.

During the recent congressional recess, not only the Chamber of Commerce but also the Business Roundtable fanned out across the country to sell the agreement to legislators.

The business community has a strong ally in President Clinton

Representatives from the chamber lobbied in 132 districts across 28 states, and the Business Roundtable was in 88 districts in 19 states rallying support for the bill.

They targeted undecided legislators and new members of Congress who might still be swayed to vote for the bill.

Grassroots push

But it was more than simply lobbying members of congress.

Mr Schachter said that his organisation also hired local grassroots organisers to rally local support.

They also worked with small, medium and large businesses, academics, officials and "anyone interested, to promote the benefits of international trade," he said.

These people, in turn, met with local boards of education and spoke at public functions on the issue.

They also have it on their web sites. The Business Roundtable allows visitors to their site to click on their state to see how the trade deal with China will potentially affect them.

Filling the airwaves

To complement these efforts, the Business Roundtable mounted a number of print, radio and television ad campaigns.

Some were aired nationally, some in specific congressional districts and others in Washington.

And during the last congressional recess, they launched a targeted, co-ordinated campaign to reach key undecided members of congress.

They wanted to make sure that members of congress saw and heard their message whereever they turned.

We wanted them to see it in what they were reading, hear it on the radio, watch it on television and hear it from who they were meeting with, Mr Schachter said.

Working overtime

Trade groups have praised USTR Charlene Barshefsky's deal with China

It is a Herculean effort even by Washington standards, said Robert A. Kapp, the president of the US China Business Council.

He has been working 14, 15 and even 16 hour days for much of the last year on the issue.

He wants congress to realise the "insanity of walking away from a brilliantly negotiated agreement".

But after all the effort, he believes that it will pass on its merits.