Bush's proclamation formally lifts restrictions on China imposed by the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade Act of 1974.
Former president Bill Clinton, at odds with many in his own party, started the process of moving China toward permanent trade status, which provides the same low tariffs that many other countries pay.
China and the US reached an agreement, as part of China's WTO entry, that will lower China's tariffs on US goods and open up its service sector to American companies.
China's tariffs on US-made goods are to fall from an overall average of 25 percent to 9 percent by 2005. Duties on America's primary farm products are to drop from 31 percent to 14 percent.
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