U.S. investment in China Worsens Trade Deficit

Publication Date: March 2000

Publisher: Economic Policy Institute

Author(s): James Burke

Research Area: Economics; Trade

Type: Brief

Coverage: China

Abstract:

Despite China's disregard for basic human rights and labor standards and its unwillingness to open its markets to U.S. goods, the Clinton Administration is currently pushing Congress to grant China permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status as part of a recently negotiated trade pact.

If approved, PNTR would help pave the way for China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). But this pact is as much about making it easier for U.S. multinationals to invest and operate in China as it is about trade.