Word: mfn
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...decision he must make by next Friday. But all indications are that the President will continue to give Beijing some form of the most-favored-nation status under which Chinese goods enter American markets at low tariff rates. "I think he will find a way not to interrupt MFN," predicted House Speaker Tom Foley, who will have to round up votes to prevent Congress from overturning a Clinton decision. Since a year after the Tiananmen Square massacre, lawmakers have been pressing the White House to punish Beijing by withdrawing MFN status; twice in 1992 lawmakers forced George Bush to veto...
...worst consequences of revoking China's MFN status would be the erosion of the U.S.'s moral credibility when it comes to its foreign policy. Blaming China's human rights record for its loss of MFN would have the appearance and reality of being both hypocritical and inconsistent. It would be hypocritical of the U.S. to jeopardize its economic position for the sake of Chinese human rights while turning away, one economic grounds, Haitian refugees fleeing an oppressive regime...
...humanitarian motivation for revoking China's MFN is also totally inconsistent with the warm economic relationship that the U.S. continues to enjoy with countries like Saudi Arabia, where human rights and certain freedoms are barely discussed, much less enforced...
...reproach of China by raising the issue of human rights before the U.N With the creation of Radio Free Asia and its removal of a cap on arms sales to Taiwan, the U.S. has already taken measures to rebuff China for its recent human rights abuses. Denying China its MFN status in addition to these politically punitive actions would be an excessive measure that would probably worsen Sino-American relations, and threaten free trade...
With the recent passage of GATT, a hard-fought victory for free trade, it would be a serious error to start encouraging trade wars and undo the great progress that has been made towards a more cooperative world. There are also many humanitarian reasons to renew China's MFN status and preserve free trade, since the free movement of goods and services almost always leads to freer societies...