TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume I Number 210 Monday, December 14, 1992 _________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary _________________________________________________________ ENVIRONMENTAL, CONSUMER GROUPS RIP GATT, NAFTA IN AD A coalition of environmental and consumer groups sponsored a full- page advertisement in three major U.S. newspapers today accusing President Bush of rushing to complete the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) before President-elect Bill Clinton assumes office January 20. The ad encourages people to write Bush, Clinton and House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri) demanding an end to efforts to enact GATT and NAFTA. The groups said the agreements would endanger jobs, health, food safety, the environment and threaten the sovereignty of the U.S. and other countries by enabling "the world's largest corporations to circumvent democracy and kill those local and national laws that protect people and the planet." The statement ran in today's NEW YORK TIMES (national edition), WASHINGTON POST and LITTLE ROCK GAZETTE under the headline, "Sabotage of America's Health, Food Safety, and Environmental Laws." It was signed by the Sierra Club, Greenpeace U.S.A, the Foundation on Economic Trends, Public Citizen and 17 other organizations. Source: "Sabotage! of America's Health, Food Safety, and Environmental Laws," NEW YORK TIMES (national edition), December 14, 1992, p. A12; "Sabotage! of America's Health, Food Safety, and Environmental Laws," WASHINGTON POST, December 14, 1992, p. A20. _________________________________________________________ GATT ROUND IN DANGER OVER US DEMANDS TO REOPEN TEXT According to sources in Geneva, the United States has asked GATT Director-General Arthur Dunkel to reopen negotiations in some major areas, including the Multilateral Trading Organization (MTO), textiles, phytosanitary measures, antidumping, intellectual property, subsidies and services. "We're not asking for scrapping the Dunkel text, but we are going to ask for reasonable adjustments," a U.S. official said. "If we didn't, this thing would be dead on arrival in Washington." Regarding the MTO, the U.S. says the Dunkel proposal, goes far beyond what it had anticipated. Under an MTO, GATT member- nations would be required to align their domestic trade policies with the provisions of any accord. Environmental groups contend an MTO would force countries to remove or weaken environmental laws to comply with free trade. Trading partners said the U.S. hesitance to accept the MTO may pose a serious threat to completing GATT by the end of the year. "If the U.S. is really putting into question the whole idea of the MTO with all the elements that are good, then that is a very serious problem," a senior European Community official told reporters. The EC has apparently told the U.S. that any changes to the MTO would be "unacceptable," but U.S. trading partners called on the U.S. to propose a substitute text. Japan's refusal to lift its rice import ban is shaping up as another obstacle to completion of the Uruguay Round. After trips to Washington and Brussels to meet with U.S. and EC officials, Agriculture Minister Masami Tanabu said he failed to reach a settlement to the rice dispute, and vowed to keep the rice markets closed. U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills and EC Farm Commissioner Ray MacSharry reportedly encouraged Tanabu to lift the ban in order to complete the GATT negotiations. Tanabu expressed doubt the Uruguay Round could be completed by the end of the year. "It's hard to predict how the talks will develop," Tanabu said. "Each nation has its own problems if the negotiations go into detail." Meanwhile, at a meeting of the European Council in Edinburgh, December 11-12, the council welcomed the resumption of GATT negotiations and reiterated its commitment to an early, comprehensive and balanced agreement. Source: "Negotiators Say U.S. Stance May Stall GATT Pact," MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE, December 11, 1992; "Conclusions of Dec. 11-12 Edinburgh Summit," REUTER, December 14, 1992; "Japanese Official Pessimistic On GATT Conclusion By Year's End," UPI, December 11, 1992; John Zarocostas, "US, EC Clash Over Proposed Trade Group," JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, December 11, 1992, p. 1A. _________________________________________________________ CLINTON EXPECTS GATT NEGOTIATIONS TO DRAG ON Despite increasing pressure from Democratic lawmakers, labor unions, environmentalists and several large U.S. industries, Bill Clinton is not expected to call for a delay in GATT negotiations. The reason, aides say, is Clinton does not anticipate a completed agreement before he takes office January 20. The negotiations "have already slowed down," said a senior Clinton adviser. "He doesn't have to take a position." Source: Bob Davis, "Clinton Isn't Expected to Urge a Delay in Current Discussions on World Trade," WALL STREET JOURNAL, December 14, 1992, p. A2; John Maggs, "Clinton Seen Hesitant to Intervene in Trade Talks," JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, December 11, 1992, p. 1A. _________________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary _________________________________________________________ NEW SENATE FINANCE CHAIR HAS CONCERNS ABOUT NAFTA Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-New York), who is expected to succeed Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) as chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has, in the past, expressed strong reservations about the North American Free Trade Agreement. But last week, Moynihan said if President-elect Bill Clinton is in favor of the pact, "then I'll be for it." Moynihan said he still has some concerns that he hopes the new administration will address. "I'd like to know more what the Canadians feel about this subject," Moynihan said. Bentsen will leave the Senate to become Treasury Secretary in the Clinton Administration. Source: Kim I. Mills, "Loyal Moynihan," AP, December 11, 1992. _________________________________________________________ Events: The American Bar Association, the Inter-Pacific Bar Association and the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership are hosting a conference called TRADE AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN PACIFIC RIM NATIONS, February 15-17, 1993, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. For additional information, call or fax Anne B. Dunn, American Bar Association. Tel: (202) 331-2276. Fax: (202) 331-2220. _________________________________________________________ Resources: Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader, has prepared a briefing book for the 103rd Congress on international trade agreements. WHY VOTERS ARE CONCERNED: ENVIRONMENTAL AND CONSUMER PROBLEMS IN GATT AND NAFTA. To obtain a copy of the report or a list of Public Citizen's other publications concerning international trade, contact: Public Citizen, 215 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. Tel: (202) 546-4996. Fax: (202) 547- 7392. Email: pcctw@igc.apc.org. _________________________________________________________ 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: Kai Mander 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:kmander@igc.apc.org _________________________________________________________