Reply #27: As long as China and the US are both members of the WTO "normal trade relations" [View All]

are mandatory, the way I understand it. One or the other would have to drop or be kicked out or WTO rules would have to change for us to change trading rules with them. Permanent normal trade relations with China, "rammed through Congress by Clinton", allowed it to join the WTO.

As with any multinational organization, the UN, Kyoto, NAFTA, etc, a member country can either comply with the rules it agreed to, seek to change the rules in cooperation with other members, or withdraw from the treaty or organization.

"The World Trade Organization requires members to grant one another most favoured nation status."

"In the United States, "most favored nation status" has been renamed Normal Trade Relations (NTR) in 1998 as all but a handful of countries had this status already, making it a misnomer."

"GATT members recognized in principle that the most favoured nation rule should be relaxed to accommodate the needs of developing countries, and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (est. 1964) has sought to extend preferential treatment to the exports of the developing countries."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_favored_nation

"For many years, People's Republic of China was the most important country in this group which required an annual waiver to maintain free trade status. The waiver for the PRC had been in effect since 1980. Every year between 1989 and 1999, legislation was introduced in Congress to disapprove the President's waiver. The legislation had sought to tie free trade with China to meeting certain human rights conditions that go beyond freedom of emigration. All such attempted legislation failed to pass. The requirement of an annual waiver was inconsistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization, and for the PRC to join the WTO, Congressional action was needed to grant PNTR to the PRC. This was accomplished in late-1999, allowing the PRC to join WTO in the following year."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Trade_Relations