TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume I Number 208 Wednesday, December 9, 1992 _________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary _________________________________________________________ CLINTON TEAM CONSIDERS MOVE TO SLOW TRADE TALKS Echoing concerns by Congressional Democrats, the Clinton transition team is debating whether to call for a delay in the completion of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). President-elect Clinton, who has thus far avoided commenting on the negotiations, may suggest that it would not be wise to enter into a flawed agreement just to meet the "fast-track" special negotiating authority deadline, March 3. Such a statement is likely to halt negotiations completely, as other countries assume that any deal could be renegotiated later. There is speculation that Mr. Clinton would call for an extension of fast-track to allow time for him to strenghthen weak points in the proposed agreement. Under fast-track, lawmakers can vote "yes" or "no" on a trade agreement, but cannot make amendments to it. Negotiators for the U.S. and EC hope to get a draft or "political" deal done by Christmas and the final agreement finished by early February to allow for translation of the document into other languages. Sources: John Maggs, "Clinton team weighs slowdown of GATT talks", JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, December 8, 1992; Bob Davis and Asra Q. Nomani, "Clinton team mulls stance on trade talks: Intel lobbies for a dealy, seeking time to attack European chip tariff", WALL STREET JOURNAL, December 9, 1992. _________________________________________________________ U.S. PRESSURES JAPAN TO MOVE ON GATT US Trade Representative Carla Hills urged Japanese Agriculture Minister Masami Tanabu to end the Japanese ban on imported rice and to "move quickly to show leadership" in the Uruguay Round of trade talks, according to a statement released by Hills' office following a face-to-face meeting yesterday. The Washington meeting was held at the request of Minister Tanabu as part of Japan's effort to defend its closed rice market on national food security grounds and to restate its opposition to converting non-tariff trade barriers to tariffs, which would then be reduced. The statement said Hills characterized the contentious issues as multilateral rather than bilateral, and therefore policies which "must be addressed in Geneva". Hills' comments were seen as part of a tough new U.S. effort to press for a quick, successful end to the Uruguay Round. They follow a December 1 statement by Agriculture Secretary Edward Madigan pledging to be as tough with Japan on rice as it was with the EC on agriculture. Japanese officials were not surprised by Hills' comments. "Insofar as the United States has always taken a tough position on this matter, and they didn't change this stance, I suppose the talks went pretty much as expected," a Japanese ministry official told reporters. The official said Japan did not plan to change its position of opposing tariffs on rice. However, the KYODO NEWS SERVICE reported yesterday that the Japanese government is considering elimination of tariffs on nonferrous metals on a reciprocal basis, under pressure from the United States. Japan is also said to be considering reducing some of its tariffs on leather goods and chemicals, dependent upon reductions in U.S. tariffs on textile products. Sources: "U.S. asks Japan to end rice ban, take a GATT lead", REUTER, December 8, 1992; "U.S. position on rice was expected - Japan official", REUTER, December 9, 1992; "Japan reported likely to scrap tariffs on nonferrous metals", UPI, December 8, 1992. _________________________________________________________ US AND JAPANESE FARMERS HIT GATT SELLOUT A joint statement released by Zenchu (Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives) of Japan and the U.S. National Farmer's Union characterized the GATT negotiations as a "sell- out" of world family farm interests. Leaders of the two groups, NFU National President Leland Swenson and Mr. Sakari Komagucki, President of the Miyagi Prefectural Union of Agricultural Cooperatives voiced concern that the Uruguay Round of talks is effectively limiting the power of nations to set their own farm and food security policies, thus threatening the livelihoods of family farmers. Both groups agreed that the big beneficiaries of the GATT will be multinational commodity processors and marketers, not individual farmers. SOURCE: "Farmers Union, Japanese farm group concerned over GATT", press release from JA Zenchu and National Farmers Union, December 9, 1992. _________________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary _________________________________________________________ CANADA SAYS NO TO NAFTA DEVELOPMENT FUND Canadian Trade Minister Michael Wilson denied that the U.S. and Canada would provide a special economic support fund to ease Mexico's entry into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The WALL STREET JOURNAL printed an interview with Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari yesterday in which the president said he would seek a fund similar to the one set up when several poorer countries joined the European Community. Wilson stated that the Canadian government had not been approached on the subject and expressed doubts that such a fund would be created. "This is not a common market," he said, "This is a free trade zone. The relationship between the three countries is different." He added that the three countries would not try to equalize social and other policies within a common market. Source: "Canada rules out special aid to Mexico under NAFTA," REUTER, December 8, 1992. _________________________________________________________ Other On-line Conferences: trade.strategy - a discussion of trade issues trade.library - a repository of trade information eai.news - a news summary of Latin American trade topics susag.news - a news summary of sustainable agriculture issues Produced by: Lessa J. Scherrer The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) 1313 Fifth Street SE, Suite #303 Minneapolis, MN 55414-1546 USA Telephone:(612)379-5980 Fax:(612)379-5982 E-Mail:lscherrer@igc.apc.org _________________________________________________________