[Intl-tobacco] China Lifts Curbs on Tobacco Imports From U.S., Barshefsky Says (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

China Lifts Curbs on Tobacco Imports From U.S., Barshefsky Says
by Paul Basken
Source: Bloomberg News, Wednesday, 5/17/00

Washington, May 17 (Bloomberg) -- China has agreed to drop restrictions on
U.S.  tobacco imports tied to its claims that the crop is unsanitary
because of ``blue mold,'' U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky
said.

The Chinese government sent a letters yesterday to Barshefsky and
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman saying it now believes blue mold ``is
not a problem,'' Barshefsky told a agricultural industry coalition.

China already granted deep cuts in tobacco tariffs as part of an agreement
it reached in November with the U.S. clearing the way for the country to
join the World Trade Organization. That included a cut in its tariffs on
cigarettes from 65 percent to 25 percent by 2004, Barshefsky said.

Beijing probably would have been forced by the WTO to drop any
restrictions on U.S. tobacco due to blue mold, which causes millions of
dollars in crop damage but no known human health problems. Still, its
decision to voluntary abandon the issue is significant since it comes as
Congress faces a key vote on granting it normal trade ties.

Barshefsky announced the Chinese decision at a breakfast meeting of the
Agricultural Coalition for China Trade, a recently formed farm industry
group dedicated to lobbying Congress on granting China permanent normal
trade relations.

The coalition includes representatives of major commodities producers such
as wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton, rice, beef and pork, and also major
agribusinesses, such as Cargill Inc., Bunge Corp., ConAgra Inc., Kraft
Foods and Farmland industries Inc., the U.S.'s largest farmer-owned
cooperative.

                      Boosting U.S. Exports

     The Agriculture Department estimates China's entry into the WTO,
which would lead to lower tariffs and the elimination of export subsidies,
could boost U.S. farm exports by about $2 billion a year by 2005, up from
almost $1 billion now.

Current U.S. farm exports worldwide are projected at $49.5 billion for the
year that ends Sept. 30.

Supporters of permanent trade privileges for China remain short of the
necessary 218 votes in the House, Barshefsky said.

``We're not quite there yet but we think that at the end of the day, the
members of Congress will do the right thing,'' said Barshefsky.

The lobby group's leader, Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm
Bureau Federation, called the vote ``essential to the survival'' of many
in his industry.

The administration has no plans to seek any delay in the House vote,
Barshefsky told reporters after the meeting.

Barshefsky spoke before she's was scheduled to appear before a House
Agriculture Committee. Of the 50-member panel, six lawmakers oppose the
trade deal, said Mary Kay Thatcher, a lobbyist for the American Farm
Bureau Federation.

China's pledge on tobacco could help sway some wavering tobacco-state
lawmakers to support the trade pact, Thatcher said