Where The Employees Are
Motorola, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Whirlpool Find That Multinational Operations Have Recruiting Advantagesby Helen Gallagher
The establishment of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China is high on the U.S. Senate's September agenda. If the China vote succeeds in the Senate, as it passed in the House of Representatives earlier this year, America will enjoy full market access benefits of the strong bilateral agreement that was negotiated with China in 1999.
"Granting PNTR will not give China any additional access to the U.S. market beyond what it currently has under China's normal trade relations status," says Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. "It will, however, require China to provide significant new market access concessions to U.S. products and services."
Will expanded trade with China mean more jobs for Americans or more foreign workers coming in on work visas and more companies moving operations to China? With record low unemployment rates in the U.S., where will companies find additional qualified workers?
Thea Lee, assistant director of public policy for the AFL-CIO, sees a greater likelihood that U.S. companies will move production to China rather than bring workers here. "So it is not likely we would be looking at a labor shortage in the U.S," says Lee. "The rhetoric around the vote is about opening export markets in China, but very few U.S. companies indicate they have any intention of exporting. They are more likely to close down here and move production there."
© 2001 Hughes Communications, Inc.