Reproduced with permission from Daily Report for Executives, No. 17 (Jan. 26, 2007) p. A-22. Copyright 2007 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.

Speakers Tell Chinese Delegation That Congressional Bills May Not Yield Action

By Amy Tsui

"It's important for your government to understand that not every speech that a congressman gives is going to turn into government policy, and not every bill introduced about China will pass, most will disappear," Bill Reinsch of the National Foreign Trade Council told a delegation of visiting Chinese officials Jan. 25.

Members of Congress will try to address generalized fears of the American public about Chinese imports, as well as specific irritants to the U.S.-Chinese relations, said Brian Pomper, a former trade aide to the Senate Finance Committee and a principle in the lobbying firm of Parven, Pomper, and Schuyler Inc.

Reinsch and Pomper spoke to the Chinese delegation members at a meeting of the Global Business Dialogue held at the National Press Club Jan. 25.

Pomper listed specific irritants to the U.S.-China relationship as an undervalued Chinese currency, intellectual property, a Chinese ban on imports of U.S. beef, Chinese government subsidies provided to Chinese companies exporting to the United States, and exports of Chinese automobiles to the United States.

China will hear a lot speeches and many good and bad ideas from Congress on how to fix problems such as the U.S.-China deficit and the competitive challenge that China poses to the United States, Reinsch said.

Reinsch also told the Chinese delegation that U.S. and foreign business leaders were expressing four kinds of problems with doing business in China, including protecting intellectual property rights, having clear stable rules that are enforced, using standards as trade barriers, and a new problem with foreign companies having difficulty acquiring a majority share in Chinese companies.

The problem with acquiring a majority share in a Chinese company is new on the scene, Reinsch said. He said that U.S. and foreign business leaders had expressed to him that acquiring a majority share in a Chinese companies was a becoming more difficult.

In some instances, Reinsch said foreign companies attempting to acquire a majority share in a Chinese company had the approval of a provincial government to the acquisition, but the national government was reluctant to approve the transaction.