TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume I Number 213 Thursday, December 17, 1992 _________________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary _________________________________________________________ LEADERS SCHEDULED TO SIGN NAFTA TODAY The leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico will sign the North American Free Trade Agreement today amid increasing concerns that it will cause job losses and environmental destruction (see story below). U.S. President George Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari initialed the trade pact in San Antonio, Texas October 7, but today's official signing sends the agreement to the countries' legislatures for consideration. The leaders will sign NAFTA in a ceremony that will include telephone and possible video link-ups between Washington, Ottawa and Mexico City. While Bush faces a tough battle getting NAFTA approved in Congress, Canadian and Mexican officials are expecting an easier time. They contend that U.S. President-elect Bill Clinton will not delay the pact and that the ratification process will proceed as scheduled. "Our understanding is that (Clinton) is satisfied with the text of NAFTA as it is and wants to negotiate additional parallel agreements on environmental and labor safety standards," a Canadian trade official said. "He does not intend to reopen the text." Salinas will have little trouble in the Mexican Senate where his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) commands a huge majority. But many in Mexico fear widespread job losses and business closures due to new competition. In a recent State of the Nation address, Salinas said increased competition "will mean greater investment and gains in production and exports." Source: "Bush to Sign Mexico Trade But Opposition Mounts," REUTER, December 16, 1992; "Canada Expects Clinton to Seek Fast NAFTA Approval," December 16, 1992; "NAFTA Signing Locks in Salinas Economic Reforms," REUTER, December 16, 1992; _________________________________________________________ GROUPS ANNOUNCE NEW CAMPAIGN AGAINST NAFTA At a press conference yesterday, a coalition of labor, environmental, consumer and farm groups -- claiming to represent some 40 million Americans -- said NAFTA would cost thousands of U.S. jobs and hurt the environment. The AFL-CIO, Greenpeace, National Farmers Union, the National Consumers League and others announced a new campaign to encourage Congress to defeat NAFTA. Jesse Jackson told the conference that Bush should allow President- elect Bill Clinton to improve the trade pact. "Let us work with the Clinton Administration to craft a trade policy that binds our hemisphere together on the crucial issues of jobs, trade, energy, the environment and economic development." William Bywater, president of the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers called for a rejection of NAFTA. "I believe the American people, if they know what's behind it, that their jobs are in jeopardy ... they are going to be against this NAFTA agreement," he said. In one of a series of planned television and newspaper advertisements by the coalition, today's NEW YORK TIMES (national edition 12-17-92, p. A7), WASHINGTON POST and USA TODAY contain advertisements protesting today's signing. Under the headline, "Without Regard to the Human Impact of Their Decisions," the groups contend the current draft of NAFTA would: undermine labor, environmental and social standards; lead to environmental ruin; cause massive U.S. and Canadian job losses; destroy family farms; and threaten democratic process. The legislatures of Canada and Mexico must also approve the deal, but the coalition will focus its efforts on defeating NAFTA in the U.S. law-making body. Source: "Without Regard to the Human Impact of Their Decisions," NEW YORK TIMES, December 17, 1992, p. A7; Michelle Mittelstadt, "Free Trade," AP, December 16, 1992. _________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary _________________________________________________________ FRANCE VOWS TO BLOCK EC FARM PROPOSAL IN GATT In a move that seems to have ended any possibility of wrapping up global trade talks this year, France announced it would block European Community offers to cut import tariffs on agriculture products. The announcement came only hours after the EC had presented the proposals to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas said he told GATT Director- General Arthur Dunkel that European Commission negotiators had gone beyond their mandate and that the French government considered the farm proposals "null and void, and without (legal) commitment and value." Dumas was undoubtedly referring to EC External Affairs Commissioner Frans Andriessen and Agriculture Commissioner Ray MacSharry when he accused the two commissioners of being "disloyal to their mandates." Source: Clare Nullis, "France-Trade," AP, December 16, 1992; "Dumas Says EC GATT Offer 'Null and Void,'" REUTER, December 16, 1992; Bhushan Bahree, Bob Davis, "French Objection to Lower Farm Tariffs Will Likely Delay World Trade Talks," WALL STREET JOURNAL, December 17, 1992, p. A7; David Gardner, "EC Ministers Strive to Tie Up Farm Reform Loose Ends," FINANCIAL TIMES, December 17, 1992, p. 24. _________________________________________________________ CLINTON HOPES FOR GATT DEAL SOON, AIDE SAYS President-elect Bill Clinton hopes the Bush Administration is successful in negotiating a GATT deal, said George Stephanopoulos, Clinton's communications director. "He supports GATT and he supports NAFTA, those positions stand," Stephanopoulus said. Source: "Spokesman Says Clinton Hopes for GATT Accord Soon," REUTER, December 16, 1992. _________________________________________________________ JAPANESE FARMERS RALLY TO KEEP RICE BAN Over ten thousand Japanese farmers took to the streets of Tokyo for the second day to protest a possible lifting of Japan's ban on foreign rice imports. "Japanese rice farming has created history and culture," agriculture cooperative worker Haruo Kurihara told a rally at a sumo arena. "If imports from bigger farms are allowed, Japanese rice farming will be destroyed and Japanese culture and social order will collapse totally." GATT trading partners are pushing Japan to end the ban. In Tokyo Wednesday, EC External Affairs Commissioner Frans Andriessen encouraged Japan to take a "political" decision to replace the rice ban with a tariffication program. But Foreign Minister Michio Watanabe told Andriessen that Japan could not promise to lift the ban. Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa told a conference Wednesday that Japan must make a firm decision next month on whether to drop the ban. Source: Andrew Pollack, "Japanese Farmers Hold a Rally for Keeping a Ban on Rice Imports," NEW YORK TIMES, December 17, 1992, p. A7; Robert Thomson, "Japan Urged to Open Its Rice Market," FINANCIAL TIMES, December 17, 1992, p. 5; Risa Maeda, "Japan Retreats to Say No to Compromise on Rice Ban," December 16, 1992; "Miyazawa Says Japan Needs Rice Decisions Next Month," REUTER, December 16, 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: 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 _________________________________________________________