TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Three Republican members of the United States Senate want to revoke permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China and sanction the communist country for its use of forced labor, reports said Friday (March 19).

The “China Trade Relations Act” would require the president to approve normal trade ties on an annual basis, while Congress could overturn his decision, the South China Morning Post reported. Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Rick Scott of Florida, and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma reintroduced the bill on Thursday (March 18) in the latest effort to loosen U.S. reliance on the Chinese economy. 

The PNTR policy was introduced in 2000 to pave the way for China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), but it was also promoted as a way to make the communist country less authoritarian.

As China has been accused of human rights infringements on several fronts and aggressive behavior toward its neighbors, PNTR should no longer apply, the senators said.