On Wednesday, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) reintroduced legislation that would end handouts to China funded by American taxpayers.
The Ending China’s Unfair Advantage Act, would prohibit any American taxpayer dollars from funding the Montreal Protocol, a United Nations treaty, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) until China is no longer defined as a developing country.
Currently, China is defined as a developing nation under the Montreal Protocol and the UNFCCC. This allows China to abide by a different set of rules and access funding – including American taxpayer dollars – from the multilateral funds.
“As the world’s second-largest economy, China is no longer a developing country. Despite this, the United Nations continues to let China play by a different set of rules at the expense of American taxpayers,” said Sen. Barrasso. “China’s unfair advantage must end now. This bill forces the United Nations to stop these U.S.-funded handouts to China once and for all.”
Cosponsors of this legislation include U.S Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), JD Vance (R-Ohio), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).
Full text of the legislation can be found here.
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol allows developing countries to be eligible for financial assistance. America is the largest contributor to the special multilateral fund, giving almost $1 billion.
China has received nearly $1.4 billion over the years as it is considered a developing country under the Montreal Protocol.
America is required to phase down production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 85 percent by 2036. China has until 2045 to reduce use by 80 percent. China is given the extra decade under the Kigali Amendment.
Last year, Sen. Barrasso introduced an amendment that would have conditioned Senate approval of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on the removal of China being defined as a developing country.
On September 21, 2022, the Senate passed Senator Sullivan’s amendment by a vote of 96-0. It declared that China is not a developing country and the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations should not treat China as such. It also conditioned the Senate’s ratification on the administration submitting a proposal to remove China as a developing country before the next meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol.
