I wonder how many thousands of food items and food ingredients we import from China.

But we have an agreement covering 10.

China and the United States, seeking to ease the furor over the safety of food exports, signed an agreement Tuesday calling for a greater American role in certifying and inspecting Chinese food products, including an increased presence of American officials at Chinese production plants.

Let's do that domestically.  Just pick and choose what to inspect, depending upon the political winds and whathever agreements we can strike when traveling the path of least resistance.  

The "food safety net" metaphor doesn't really cover it.

Try inspecting at the border.  Let the importers pay for it, just like domestic companies pay for inspection inside the factories here.  All of them. 

When you sign a contract, you receive the benefits you bargained for, and you must abide by the obligations of the contract.  You don't decide later whether you have an interest in following the obligations.  That decision is made as a condition of the contract.

The U.S. filed an intellectual property case against China this year.  The response?

China has stopped granting permission for American films to be shown in its theaters in an apparent trade dispute with the United States, according to several Hollywood executives and United States government officials. ...

Chinese leaders expressed strong displeasure with the decision to file the intellectual property rights case this year. 

Those darned WTO rules. 

China joined the WTO in November 2001.  They like the benefits, but the obligations irritate them.  

This from a contemporary CNN article back then, describing the WTO vote approving China's entry:

"Their participation in the WTO will be a boost for us and them," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick told the plenary session before the vote. ...

Though some members did voice fears about Beijing's ability to stand by its pledges.

Chinese officials dismissed the concern.

"China's market is open to the outside. As long as the market is open to the outside, the more economic growth we have and the better for the world," Beijing's top trade negotiator Long Yongtu told reporters.

Henry Paulson keeps talking to them about following the rules.  But the talks go nowhere.  The country is 1/3 of our trade deficit, and a protectionist.  But when we seek to neutralize the specific protectionist measures, the DC talking heads call us protectionist.

The talks continue.   

Jack Davis challenged Tom Reynolds in 2004 and 2006, narrowly losing.  Davis is a Buffalo, NY manufacturing company owner with sensible ideas on trade.  

Reynolds is a self-described "free trader," which is the issue that drew the Davis challenge and near defeat in 2006. A mere 3,699 votes going the other way would have changed the result.

Davis has not announced this year, and may not.  Democratic challengers are Jon Powers and Alice Kryzan. 

There are rumors that Reynolds, who ran the House Republican campaign committee during the past election cycle, will not run in 2008.  

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