House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party chairman Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) introduced a bill on Nov. 14 that would suspend normal trade relations with China, revoking the status Congress conferred on the nation in 2000 as it was about to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The Restoring Trade Fairness Act would revoke China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status. Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the Senate version of this bill earlier this year.
PNTR is a fair trade agreement, formerly known as “most favored nation” status, and the legislation passed in 2000 negated the need for Congress to vote to renew China’s trade status as it had done annually since 1980….