FILE - Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on pending judicial nominations on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 28, 2021. Hawley's book “The Tyranny of Big Tech” was dropped by Simon & Schuster but was acquired by independent conservative publisher Regnery. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP, File)
WASHINGTON (TND) — Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., says he plans to introduce legislation that would revoke China's "most favored nation" trade status with the U.S.
The bill, known as the "Ending Normal Trade Relations with China Act," will be introduced this week, according to Politico, which says it was the first to obtain a copy.
Hawley's legislation would permanently withdraw China's "normal trade relations status" within two years, allow products from China to be subject to higher tariff rates and allow the president to have the authority to push those tariffs even higher, according to the bill's wording.
According to a press release from Hawley, the bill would "reduce our dependency [on China] and protect America’s working class." Hawley also calls China "America’s greatest adversary" in his press release.
As we face a new age of competition with China, we need an agenda in Washington that will make our working class strong and independent," Hawley is quoted in the release saying. "We can start by revoking the sweetheart deal D.C. elites handed to China 23 years ago—end normal trade relations, put in place strong tariffs, and protect American workers."
Hawley's bill would not be the first that sought to end China's preferential trade arrangement with the U.S.
Senators Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Ted Budd, R-N.C. and J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, introduced the "China Trade Relations Act" in January 2023. It sought "to strip China of its Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status."
For twenty years, Communist China has held permanent most-favored-nation status, which has supercharged the loss of American manufacturing jobs. China never deserved this privilege in the first place, and China certainly does not deserve it today. It’s time to protect American jobs and hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for their forced labor camps and egregious human rights violations," Cotton said in a release at the time.
In the state of Ohio, we have lost over 130,000 jobs since Congress made the catastrophic mistake of granting China special trade privileges two decades ago. I have seen the devastating effects of this job loss first hand, and I know it’s past time we did something to reverse that trend. This legislation is a strong step toward defending American jobs and revitalizing our domestic manufacturing capacity," Vance added in the same release.
Sen. Cotton also introduced a bill to end China's "most-favored nation" status in September 2020. Cotton said at that time it was the 20-year anniversary of the U.S. Senate giving a "gift" to China in the form of the "permanent most-favored-nation status."
That disastrous decision made the Party richer, but cost millions of American jobs," Cotton said a press release for that proposed legislation in 2020.
The U.S. Senate voted to give China that permanent most-favored-nation status on September 19, 2000. The vote and status are said to have "paved the way" for China to attain access and membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Cotton claims that the trade status "destroyed" 2 million American jobs after 2001 and "led to a surge of business investment in China that made the CCP stronger and more dangerous."
Hawley apparently agrees, but updated the number of lost American jobs in his 2023 release to 3.7 million "good jobs across manufacturing industries in America." Hawley adds in his release that communities "suffered" as a result of those jobs being lost, which led to an "unwinding of the social fabric in these forgotten places" that led to "declining rates of marriage and fertility, and rising rates of addiction, divorce, and suicide."
Since Congress stupidly gave China favored trade status, we have lost millions of good-paying, blue-collar jobs," Hawley said on Twitter on Monday night. "Time to rebuild the American working class. Step one: withdraw China’s Most Favored Nation status. For good."
Russia, which was once also a nation that enjoyed its "most favored nation" status with the U.S., lost it after it began its invasion of Ukraine.
Congress and President Joe Biden enacted legislation stripping Russia of its status in April 2022.
https://katv.com/news/nation-world/senators-bill-would-revoke-chinas-most-favored-nation-trade-status-with-us-josh-hawley
Hawley proposes
bill revoking China's preferential trade status
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/hawley-proposes-bill-revoking-chinas-preferential-trade-status
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