This report discusses the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, begun in November 2001, which has entered its 11th year. It includes background on Doha and the significance of the negotiations, as well as a breakdown of issues on the Doha agenda and the role of the Congress.

This report provides analysis and discusses China's expanded international engagement. It also discusses implications for U.S. interests, policy options for the U.S. and the general challenges of China's political and economic clout in the international community.

China is the leading vehicle producer in the world and has the fastest growing market. It imports and exports very few vehicles, with exports more than imports. Chinese exports in competition withtheur own markets. Chinese aftermarket parts are also making their way into the United States.

This report provides a quantitative framework for policy considerations dealing with U.S. trade with China. It provides basic data and analysis of China's international trade with the United States and other countries. Since Chinese data differ considerably from those of its trading partners (because of how entrepot trade through Hong Kong is counted), data from both People's Republic of China (PRC) sources and those of its trading partners are presented. Charts showing import trends by sector for the United States highligh China's growing market shares in many industries and also show import shares for Japan, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

This report provides a quantitative framework for policy considerations dealing with U.S. trade with China. It provides basic data and analysis of China’s international trade with the United States and other countries. Since Chinese data differ considerably from those of its trading partners (because of how entrepot trade through Hong Kong is counted), data from both PRC sources and those of its trading partners are presented. Charts showing import trends by sector for the United States highlight China’s growing market shares in many industries and also show import shares for Japan, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ).

This report provides a quantitative framework for policy considerations dealing with U.S. trade with China. It provides basic data and analysis of China’s international trade with the United States and other countries. Since Chinese data differ considerably from those of its trading partners (because of how entrepot trade through Hong Kong is counted), data from both PRC sources and those of its trading partners are presented. Charts showing import trends by sector for the United States highlight China’s growing market shares in many industries and also show import shares for Japan, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ).

When the U.S. runs a trade deficit with the Chinese, this requires a capital inflow from China to the United States. This, in turn, lowers U.S. interest rates and increases U.S. investment spending. On the negative side, lower priced goods from China may hurt U.S. industries that compete with those products, reducing their production and employment. In addition, an undervalued yuan makes U.S. exports to China more expensive, thus reducing the level of U.S. exports to China and job opportunities for U.S. workers in those sectors. However, in the long run, trade can affect only the composition of employment, not its overall level. Thus, inducing China to appreciate its currency would likely benefit some U.S. economic sectors, but would harm others, including U.S. consumers. Several estimates of the yuan’s undervaluation are evaluated in the report.

This report focuses on the implications that certain elements of China’s military modernization may have for future required U.S. Navy capabilities. The issue for Congress addressed in this report is: How should China’s military modernization be factored into decisions about U.S. Navy programs? Congress’s decisions on this issue could significantly affect future U.S. Navy capabilities, U.S. Navy funding requirements, and the U.S. defense industrial base, including the shipbuilding industry.

The People’s Republic of China successfully completed its second human spaceflight mission on October 17, 2005. China is only the third country, after Russia and the United States, able to launch people into space. Its first human spaceflight was in 2003 when a single astronaut, or “taikonaut,” made a flight lasting slightly less than a day. The 2005 flight lasted five days, and involved two taikonauts. As the United States embarks upon President Bush’s “Vision for Space Exploration” to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020 and someday send them to Mars, some may view China’s entrance into the human exploration of space as a competitive threat, while others may view China as a potential partner.

This report discusses a list of economic sanctions that the United States currently maintains against China. The influence of Congress on U.S. policy toward China, once significant because so much hung on the annual possibility that favorable trade terms could be suspended, has more recently been diffused. Sanctions that remain in place today can all be modified, eased, or lifted altogether by the President, without congressional input.

Demand patterns for world oil and oil products show significant diversity by country, region, and product groupings. As a result of this diversity it is not possible to attach blame for the current level of price to any one nation, region, or product segment. The view that the oil market is international in scope and tightly interrelated is enhanced by the demand data. As a result of the integrated nature of the world oil market it is unlikely that any one nation acting on its own can implement policies that isolate its market from broader price behavior. As new major oil importers, notably China, and potentially India, expand their demand, the oil market likely will have to expand production capacity. This promises to increase the world’s dependence on the Persian Gulf members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, especially Saudi Arabia, and maintain upward pressure on price.