NATIONAL FOREIGN TRADE COUNCIL, INC.
1625 K St., NW, #1090,
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 887-0278
FAX: (202) 452-8160

June 20, 2000

The Hon. Trent Lott
The United States Senate
487 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Mr. Leader:

I am writing on behalf of the National Foreign Trade Council, an association of more than 550 U.S. companies engaged in international trade and investment, to urge you to oppose S. 2645, the "China Nonproliferation Act." This legislation would impose unilateral U.S. sanctions on China and make it harder for the U.S. to persuade China to abide by its multilateral agreements on the development of missiles and weapons of mass destruction. We oppose the legislation for a number of reasons:

• unilateral economic sanctions almost never achieve their objectives. This legislation would jeopardize current Chinese cooperation with multilateral non-proliferation efforts, such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty;

• the bill is unnecessary because the President already has all the legal authority he needs, under statutes such as the Export Administration Act and the Iran-Iraq Non-Proliferation Act to impose sanctions on countries for weapons proliferation;

• the bill would undo a major benefit of extending Permanent Normal Trade Relations to China by requiring Congress to vote each year on whether to impose unilateral non-proliferation sanctions on China;

• the bill seeks to punish China by hurting Americas: it would sanction China by harming American exporters by restricting Ex-Im Bank financing and hurt American farmers by restricting GSM-102 and 103, ceding their 8th largest export market to foreign competitors;

• the legislation is loosely drafted: sanctions would be triggered by "credible information" of proliferation rather than a presidential determination, risking the imposition of sanctions on incomplete or erroneous information.

Because of these profound flaws and because of the severely negative impact the bill would have on U.S. relations with China, we urge you to oppose it.

Sincerely,