BEIJING -- After a day of bargaining with Chinese leaders, the United States' top trade negotiator said Tuesday that substantial differences need to be resolved before China could join the World Trade Organization.
U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky's summation of her 24-hour China trip dimmed prospects that a WTO deal could be reached in time for Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to Washington next week -- an achievement U.S. and Chinese officials had hoped for.In a statement read to reporters by a U.S. Embassy spokesman, Barshefsky insisted the United States has "set no artificial deadlines" and that negotiations would continue. She left a key assistant in Beijing to continue meetings with the Chinese.
China's 13-year on-again, off-again effort to get into the WTO and its predecessor has run up against Washington's insistence that Beijing, as a major exporter, open its domestic markets.
Barshefsky, who left Beijing without speaking to reporters, discussed all the points of contention in 5 1/2 hours of talks with Zhu and Wu Yi, a Cabinet member overseeing the WTO bid, embassy spokesman Bill Palmer said.
"We have again made some important progress today in narrowing the issues before us. Substantial gaps remain, however, in critical areas of trade," Barshefsky's statement said. Palmer listed those as access for agricultural and industrial goods, telecommunications and services and dropping barriers to some U.S. wheat.
The downbeat end to Barshefsky's trip contrasted with comments made by other officials in recent days. U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley, on a separate trade mission to China, had said he was cautiously optimistic and that negotiations were in the final stage.
"We are getting closer," Daley told American business executives in Beijing today. He added that Zhu's visit provided "a window open" to getting a WTO deal.
Striking a deal now would give Zhu and President Clinton proof that rapprochement between the countries benefits both sides. Suspicions that Beijing stole secrets to a nuclear warhead have aggravated tensions over human rights, Taiwan, regional military issues and the $57 billion trade imbalance.
Zhu has taken a personal interest in the past few months, reversing years of lackluster offers that underscored Chinese leaders' worries that open markets would overwhelm weak domestic industries. China is also racing to join the WTO before a new round of global trade talks opens later this year.