U.S. labor may press Obama for China sanctions

http://uk.reuters.com/article/usPoliticsNews/idUKN2250059620081222

Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:02pm GMT

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama may face pressure early in his administration to use the threat of trade sanctions to force China to improve conditions for workers, an American labor official said on Monday.

"We are interested in resubmitting the China workers rights case," and expect to raise the issue with the incoming U.S. team early in 2009, Thea Lee, policy director of the AFL-CIO labor federation, told Reuters.

The United States' largest labor organization filed a petition in March 2004 and again in June 2006 asking the Bush administration to investigate whether China's "persistent denial of basic workers rights" gives it an unfair trade advantage that warrants U.S. sanctions in response.

The Bush administration rejected both requests and three other petitions filed by U.S. lawmakers in 2004, 2005 and 2007, which asked for an investigation into whether China was manipulating its currency to give its exporters and importers an illegal advantage under World Trade Organization rules.

During his presidential campaign, Obama criticized China on currency and workers rights and promised to be tougher than President George W. Bush.

"China's human rights violations and failure to enforce labor, environment and meaningful product safety standards are unacceptable," Obama told the Ohio Conference on Fair Trade this year. "Unlike our current president, I will take trade enforcement seriously."

FULL 2 page story at link.