The U.S. environmental community is debating whether to actively oppose the Clinton administration’s plan to give China permanent normal trade relations status as China prepares to enter the World Trade Organization. Some enviros are hesitant in an election year to label House Democrats as “anti-environmental” if they vote for normal trade relations, and some worry that a fight could weaken Al Gore’s presidential campaign. But recent administration moves on trade have angered some enviros, said Mark Vallianatos of Friends of the Earth, which has come out against normal trade relations with China. Enviros want an amendment to the trade relations bill that would require U.S. companies to abide by U.S. environmental laws in China and would allow Chinese citizens to sue U.S. companies operating in China for environmental damage in U.S. courts, but the administration has given no sign that it supports such an amendment.
