Renewal of Trade Agreement With the People's Republic of China

President Clinton renewed the bilateral trade agreement with China under the Trade Act of 1974, finding that China satisfactorily reciprocated U.S. tariff and nontariff barrier reductions and maintained a satisfactory balance of concessions in trade and services. This determination allowed continued most-favored-nation (MFN) trading status for China.

Federal Register Open PDF 63 FR 5857

Impact dates

Feb 3, 1998
Federal Register publication

Market exposure

Policy exposure mapping — not investment advice. Illustrative public companies are incomplete and not recommendations.

Sectors

Other industrial

Mechanisms

Tariff

Role pressure

ProtectiveImporter — Continued MFN status preserves lower tariff access for Chinese goods, avoiding cost increases from snapback to column 2 rates
ProtectiveTrading-partner exporter — Chinese exporters retain favorable tariff treatment in US market
ProtectiveDownstream manufacturer — Supply chain cost stability for manufacturers using Chinese inputs

Geographies

US CN

Illustrative public companies

Curated watchlist matches by sector/role — incomplete; not a recommendation.

AAPLApple

Confidence: high · Policy alerts

Key directives

Publish determination in the Federal Register

Who is ordered

United States Trade Representative · USTR

Timeline

Immediate

Determination effective upon signing January 30, 1998
Continued MFN tariff treatment for Chinese goods

Near term (90d)

Federal Register publication directed

Long term

Sustained bilateral trade framework pending future annual review cycles

Risks & tensions

Annual MFN renewal was politically contentious; human rights and trade deficit concerns created recurring congressional tension
Document frames reciprocity finding as factual but judgment is inherently political