Permanent normal trade for China. (Insider Report).

By granting Communist China "permanent normal trade status" (formerly "Most Favored Nation" or MFN) in late December, President Bush ended "a quarter-century policy of using access to U.S. markets as an annual enticement to the communist giant to expand political and economic freedoms," commented a December 27th AP story. The president referred to the move as the "final step in normalizing U.S.-China trade relations and welcoming China into a global, rules-based trading system."

Last year, Congress granted Beijing permanent MFN status contingent upon its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the global body charged with making the "rules" alluded to by the president. In its annual meeting in the United Arab Emirates last November, the WTO extended membership to Beijing, making Mr. Bush's announcement little more than a formality.

Washington's deference to the WTO reflects the fact that Congress has alienated its constitutional duty to "regulate commerce with foreign nations." U.S. membership in the WTO was approved by the House in a 1994 lame-duck session. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who played a vital role in this betrayal of our national sovereignty, described the decision on WTO membership as "a transformational moment" in which Congress transferred "from the United States at a practical level significant authority to a new organization."

Consequently, the United States can no longer use access to our markets as leverage over a totalitarian regime that has declared our nation its "number one enemy."