On this episode of Talkin’ (Policy) Shop, Oren and Chris discuss China’s “permanent normal trade relations” (PNTR) status and the case for revoking it.

Granting PNTR to China as part of its ascension to the WTO was supposed to grant American firms and workers comparable benefits in the Chinese market. But the experts were wrong. The “China Shock” cost millions of American jobs, reduced domestic investment and innovative capacity, strained many communities’ social fabric, and contributed to a surge in “deaths of despair” concentrated among middle-aged Americans without college degrees.

Further Reading

• American Compass policy brief: End “Permanent Normal Trade Relations” with China
• Searching for Capitalism in the Wreckage of Globalization (Oren Cass, American Compass)
• “Where’s the Growth?” (American Compass)
• “The Balancing Act” (American Compass)
• “China Trade Relations Act of 2023," Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Rick Scott (R-FL), Ted Budd (R-NC), and J.D. Vance (R-OH)
• “Ending Normal Trade Relations with China Act,” Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO)