CHINA TRADE DEBATE

May 2000
		Labor: Michael E. Mathis, Director of Government Affairs from the Teamsters Union, answers questions on why normalized trade hurts American workers and should not be supported. Also available: Free Trade and Human Rights

Free Trade Advocates: The Cato Institute Human Rights Activists: Human Rights Watch Labor Unions: The Teamsters     Online NewsHour Special Report: The China Trade Debate Q&A: PNTR Debate: * Free Trade * Human Rights * Labor Dec. 1, 1999: A discussion on China, trade and democracy Nov. 18, 1999: An interview with U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky Nov. 15, 1999: A discussion on the U.S.-China Trade deal. July 30, 1999: Beijing cracks down on the meditation group Falun Gong. Feb. 26, 1999: The U.S. State Dept. releases its yearly human rights report. Dec. 30, 1998: A report on muzzling dissent in China. June 29, 1998: President Clinton challenges China on human rights. Online NewsHour Special Reports: The WTO and Global Trade The World Bank & IMF Complete NewsHour coverage of Asia   AFL-CIO Cato Institute Human Rights Watch International Brotherhood of Teamsters United States-China Business Council

How would you briefly describe the workers' rights situation in China? The workers' rights situation in China is abysmal. China violates internationally recognized core labor standards. Workers are denied the right to join collectively to bargain for wages and benefits. They are denied any say in their workplace and they are paid as little as $.13 an hour. Sadly, those are the lucky workers. Many goods produced in China are made by forced labor, or as the rulers of China call it, "re-education through labor." And despite China's alleged commitment to stop the export of goods made by forced labor, the latest U.S. State Department's Human Rights Report documents the continued export of these goods. The Teamsters Union has fought long and hard for workers' rights in the U.S. We should not be made to compete with a workforce that has no rights. How in your opinion does PNTR threaten American workers and the Nation's economy? PNTR forces American workers to compete with workers who work in poor conditions -- with no say in their workplace -- for as little as $.13 an hour. PNTR forces our nations businesses to compete with companies in China who do not have to live up to environmental, occupational, and worker rights legislation. PNTR inevitably feeds the "race to the bottom" trend we have witnessed in the years since NAFTA passed. China will replace Mexico as the new "cheap" labor market and more Americans will lose their jobs. Proponents of this legislation will say that while there might be job loss in some areas of our economy there will be jobs creation in other areas - in particular the high tech arena. Well these are the same promises we heard during the NAFTA debate and they have yet to materialize. The truth of the matter is that the American worker loses under this legislation, and our nation's economy will suffer as a result. Teamsters find this shifting job market to be a particular concern. Our members have watched while friends and families' jobs in the high-end manufacturing field are moved to other countries. The few lower paid service industry jobs that have been created are of little comfort to these workers. Our members are proud of the work they do, and resent a U.S. trade agenda that has increasingly forced them to look at a new, lower paying job market.   How do you believe PNTR would increase the trade deficit between the United States and China, which currently favors China? PNTR will increase our trade deficit and eliminate American jobs. If PNTR is granted, 817,000 jobs will be eliminated by the growth in the trade deficit with China over the next decade. This is on top of the 880,000 jobs already lost due to the trade deficit with China. This is unacceptable for American workers.   If PNTR passes, would China need -- or be eventually forced - to implement increased workers' rights measures to compete in the world marketplace? If PNTR passes, we lose all of our leverage to force China to implement basic rights for workers' in China. Congress must maintain its economic leverage over China. China's stake in the U.S. market gives the Chinese government an incentive to improve its policies on trade, human and worker rights in order to preserve NTR status. The U.S. should not give up this leverage.   Will labor unions actively make this a campaign issue this year against those Democrats and Republicans who support the PTNR? And, how should the United States approach trade with China in the future? The Teamsters Union has spent the last three months in an all-out battle to defeat this legislation. We have educated and mobilized Teamster members in opposition to PNTR and they will all remember this vote in November. America's working families have suffered long enough from a U.S. trade agenda that places profits over people. I believe that any member of Congress who supports this agenda will not enjoy the full support of the Teamsters Union in this election. The U.S. should defeat PNTR for China and continue its current system of annual review to monitor China's progress in the worker and human rights arenas.