There’s no such thing as “favorite nation” status. “Most favored nation” status (a term that creates a lot of confusion) means that the nation operates off of the standard tariff sheet. There are some exceptions for specific products, but that is a separate issue.
In 2007-08 Willard was urging trade with China and insisting that China be given favorite nation status...
Here's a related piece of information that many are not aware of:
"China was admitted to the WTO after promising to accept its rules about free trade. But as the lawyers say when you end up disappointed by a contract, you should have read the fine print. The fine print in China's WTO agreement was in an attached document euphemistically labeled an "accession agreement," which gave China status as a "nonmarket economy" and spelled out thousands of details about special preferences for China"
China Celebrates Outwitting Us