UC-PRC TRADE-RELATED NEGOTIATIONS IN THE 1990S - 2-LEVEL GAME ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATIONS

This article examines three cases of bilateral negotiations between th e United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the 1990s: the PRC's most-favored-nation (MFN) status, intellectual property rig hts (IPR) protection, and the PRC's entry into the General Agreement o n Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization (WTO). The key que stion is: How to explain the different outcomes in these three most si milar cases? These variables are crucial to my explanation: (1) confli cts over conceptual framework; (2) the degree of congruence (or confli ct) between U.S. demands and Chinese internal agenda and policy priori ties; and (3) existence or nonexistence of support coalitions on both sides. Based on variations of these three factors in each case, this a rticle's conclusion is that from a U.S. policy perspective, consensus over the conceptual framework between the PRC and the United States ma kes agreement possible, but only successful coalition-building by the United States will turn this possibility into a reality.