China, which is not in the WTO, does not automatically receive MFN treatment. Congress must choose to grant it, withhold it, or subject MFN treatment to special conditions. In lending China MFN status, the United States voluntarily allows China to receive the rewards of WTO membership as it pertains to trade between the two countries, even though China has been denied membership to the trade organization as a whole. The second GATT standard is called non-discrimination, which demands that countries not discriminate between foreign and domestic products. Goods produced domestically and abroad must receive the same "national treatment" equal access to domestic markets. The third GATT principle is "transparency," which requires that any trade protection be obvious and quantifiable like a tariff. Finally, in addition to these rules, the WTO has the authority to resolve disputes and to issue penalties and sanctions. Moreover, its jurisdiction has been extended beyond manufacturing policy to include domestic policies that affect trade. The WTO can now apply to many service industries including banking, insurance, management consulting, and travel the same policies that GATT applied to manufacturing. Patents, trademarks, and copyrights, the bedrock of national policies that restrict trade in intellectual property, now fall under the WTO's jurisdiction. Investment issues can also be subject to WTO rules when restrictions on investment among countries restrain free flows of capital and goods. Any member country can challenge another's practices and file a claim, which then triggers a formal procedure for resolving the dispute. Panels are established to look at each dispute there have been about 30 established since 1995 and, after several layers of appeals have been exhausted, the findings of these panels are binding. While GATT had a similar process, it did not have the power to recommend and enforce penalties, sanctions, and compensation the W...
