Tiffany, Smith Reintroduce Legislation to Revoke China’s Trade Privileges

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Reps. Tom Tiffany (WI-07) and Chris Smith (NJ-04) reintroduced legislation to revoke China’s trade privileges—known as permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status—in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) ongoing genocide against Uyghurs, persistent human rights violations and persecution of ethnic and religious minorities. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced the Senate companion of this legislation.
 
"America should never let genocide and slave labor become a ‘permanent’ or ‘normal’ part of U.S. trade," said Congressman Tiffany. "It’s time we stopped overlooking widespread human rights abuses as just the ‘cost of doing business’ in Communist China and restored the annual congressional review of China’s ‘most favored nation’ trade status." 
 
"Ever since President Clinton delinked trade with China from human rights in 1994, the Chinese Communist Party has been growing into an economic power, stealing American jobs and intellectual property while getting an absolute pass for its heinous human rights abuses," said Congressman Smith. "We must correct President Clinton’s horrific mistake and return to the pre-Clinton norm by making annual renewal of normal trade relations contingent on concrete progress on human rights." 
  
The Smith-Tiffany legislation would relink China’s trade status with its record on human rights and require annual affirmation by the President that the CCP is making serious and sustained improvement in respecting human rights in order to achieve preferential treatment in trade protocols, sometimes referred to as most favored nation (MFN) status.
 
The full text of the China Trade Relations Act can be found here.

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