US legislation will end China's most-favoured nation trade status: Senator

China will lose the most-favored-nation (MFN) status, which extends trade concessions for one nation to all countries, under legislation introduced by US Senator Tom Cotton on Thursday.

"Twenty years ago this week, the Senate gave a gift to the Chinese Communist Party by granting it permanent most-favored-nation status. That disastrous decision made the party richer, but cost millions of American jobs. It is time to protect American workers and take back our leverage over Beijing by withdrawing China's permanent trade status," Cotton said in a press release announcing the bill.

China could still maintain its MFN status with the US, but the privilege would have to be renewed by the US President annually, with Congress allowed to override the decision of the President, the release said.

The bill also includes a list of human rights and trade abuses that would disqualify China for MFN status, absent a presidential waiver, it added.

The list includes the use of slave labour, re-education prison camps, forced abortion or sterilisation and organ harvesting from prisoners, the release stated.

Other listed abuses include religious persecution, harassment of expatriate Chinese who are critical of the government and the theft of intellectual property from Americans, according to the release.

-ANI

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