(2014-1037-F) China

The materials in FOIA 2014-1037-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. The records in FOIA 2014-1037-F concern the renewal of Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status for the People’s Republic of China in 1993 and 1994. After being suspended in 1951, China’s MFN status had been restored in 1980. However, beginning in 1990, concerns over military technology sales and human rights abuses, especially the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, made the annual renewal of China’s MFN status a point of contention with Congress. The Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 prohibits the granting of MFN to non-market economies, thus requiring a waiver for China’s renewal. In 1993, President Clinton issued Executive Order 12850, which renewed China’s MFN status for another year and set forth specific human rights objectives for the 1994 renewal. On May 20, 1994, despite continuing tension in relations with China, the President announce China’s MFN renewal. A Congressional effort to overturn this action failed the following June. In 2000, the designation of Permanent Normal Trade Relations replaced China’s MFN status. The records responsive to this FOIA request are located in the National Security Council (NSC) Records Management System (RMS) numbered documents. These materials include memoranda to the President, Anthony Lake, or Samuel Berger regarding negotiations with both the Chinese and Congress regarding MFN renewal. In addition there are records concerning trade status legislation, including draft of the United States – China Act of 1993, press materials, and statements of the Administration’s policy on certain legislation.