(2021-0518-F Segment 1) Dorothy Dwoskin - China - WTO -GATT

Previously, she had held other roles within the Office of the US Trade Representative. After transition to the private sector, Ms. Dwoskin was a Senior Director of Global Trade Policy and Strategy at Microsoft until 2017. The focus of economic policy in relation to China during AUTR Dwoskin’s tenure was largely on Chinese accession to the WTO. China began the process of joining the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1986. Though not a member, China was a signatory to the Uruguay Round of GATT in 1994. Following the formation of the WTO, China continued the process of bilateral negotiations with the members of the WTO on trade and services with the goal of acceding to the organization. Under the terms established in Articles I and II of the GATT, each member was to be accorded most favored nation status (MFN). Thus, under these provisions, Chinese accession to the WTO was predicated on receiving MFN status, a fact that complicated negotiations late in the accession process. In the United States, MFN was changed by law (P.L. 105-206) in 1998 to Normal Trade Relations (NTR)—often also called Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR). Negotiations between the United States and China on WTO accession intensified in 1996 and continued through the end of the Clinton administration. While the administration supported Chinese accession, Congressional concerns regarding China’s records on human rights and environmental issues delayed the granting of NTR until the passage of H.R. 4444 on September 19, 2000. President Clinton signed the United States-China Relations Act on October 10, 2000. The act authorized “extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations treatment) to the People's Republic of China” and established “a framework for relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China.” Following negotiations with other WTO parties, China finally acceded to the WTO on December 11, 2001.