CHINA: President Bush must decide by May...

CHINA: President Bush must decide by May 3 whether to ask Congress to renew China’s most-favored nation tariff status, but if he does, he faces a tough battle on Capitol Hill. Charges of unfair trading practices and fresh allegations of human rights abuses are jeopardizing a renewal of U.S. low-tariff treatment for imports from China. Bush is expected to make the request to renew the most-favored nation status, as he did last year, despite China’s military crackdown in Tian An Men Square in 1989. But one congressional staff aide said: “I think the Chinese are in more difficulty now than they have ever been.” Among the problems are the U.S. trade deficit with China, which hit $10.4 billion last year--the third-largest, after Japan and Taiwan.