New York City Bill Seeks Sanctions On China, Pakistan

If a controversial proposal in the New York city council goes through, China and Pakistan could be among several other countries facing no-entry signs here.

City council speaker Peter F Vallone, a deeply religious Roman Catholic, is seeking to push through a bill that would ban the city from doing business with 15 countries that allegedly persecute Christians.

Besides China and Pakistan, the countries include Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Vietnam. Keeping them company are the usual list of American suspect states Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Nigeria along with Sudan and Laos. If passed, the bill would prohibit the city from doing business with both the countries themselves, and corporations that are active in those nations. The bill, which introduced last month, is already creating a groundswell of resentment among New Yorks business community. The bill would also force the city to withdraw deposits from banks that do business with any country on the list. As a result, multinational giants such as Chase Manhattan, Time Warner, Pepsico and General Motors could find themselves blacklisted by the city. The cost, although certainly not crippling, could be considerable. New York city has the fourth largest budget in the country, behind only the US government, California and New York state.

 

The citys bill is part of a growing trend in the US for cities and states to take independent action against foreign countries. Last month, 19 cities and states, including New York and Massachusetts, approved legislation that would ban their governments from doing business with financial institutions and other corporations which had trade relations with Myanmar. New York itself has earlier banned trade with South Africa and Northern Ireland, citing human rights violations in both countries. By all indications, American business is not amused.

More than 400 US corporations and trade associations formed a coalition named USA Engage earlier this year to fight the growing use of unilateral trade sanctions at all levels. Meanwhile, a National Trade Council representative told the New York Times that companies may band together to question the legality of local sanctions.