TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume 2 Number 98 Thursday, June 3, 1993 Headlines: CLINTON SAYS NAFTA WILL BE A TOUGH FIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS PRESS CLINTON ON NAFTA EC PLANS COUNTER SANCTIONS AGAINST U.S. CAIRNS GROUP WORRIES FARM DEAL WILL BE REOPENED ________________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary ________________________________________________________ CLINTON SAYS NAFTA WILL BE A TOUGH FIGHT President Clinton predicted yesterday during talks with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney that the North American Free Trade Agreement will be ratified once agreeable side deals are negotiated. "I think eventually we'll get there, but it's going to be a very tough fight," Clinton said. "I feel very strongly that it's the right thing to do and I'm going to keep plugging away, hoping we can pass it." Mexico and Canada oppose Clinton's plan for supplemental labor and environment accords because it seeks power to sanction violators of agreed standards. Mexico intends to present its own proposal on side accords to the Clinton Administration next week. "I think we will present some very interesting alternatives to solve this problem," said Hermann Von Bertrab, director of Mexico's Office for Free Trade Agreement Negotiations. Speaking at a conference in New York yesterday, Von Bertrab said Mexico and Canada have been busy drafting counter- proposals to Clinton's plan. Meanwhile, Clinton announced he will nominate Stock Exchange chief Jim Jones as ambassador to Mexico. Jones has been chairman and chief executive officer of the American Stock Exchange since 1989. He served as an Oklahoma congressman from 1973-87 and spent four years as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Jones "is seasoned by years of economic leadership in both the private and public sectors," Clinton said in a statement released by the White House. Sources: "Clinton-Mexico Ambassador," AP, June 2, 1993; Deborah Zabarenko, "Clinton-NAFTA Will Pass, With a Tough Fight," REUTER, June 2, 1993; "Mexico to Present Counter NAFTA Side Proposals," REUTER, June 2, 1993. ________________________________________________________ HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS PRESS CLINTON ON NAFTA Seven human rights groups have joined twenty church, agricultural, environmental and labor groups in urging President Clinton to ratify international human rights treaties as a solution to NAFTA worker welfare concerns. The organizations contend the American Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and two other treaties for the elimination of racial discrimination and women's rights already establish the basic civil and political rights that Clinton has promised to negotiate in NAFTA's supplemental accords. "With the mandate for reform given you by the American people on November 3, we urge you to press for prompt ratification of these treaties," the groups say in a letter to Clinton. "Though all of these treaties have been ratified by Mexico, none has until now been ratified by the United States." The groups also pressure Clinton to adopt three other treaties, drafted by the International Labor Organization, pertaining to international due process. The treaties would guarantee workers the right to organize free labor unions and engage in collective bargaining without suffering discrimination from either the state or management. "The new markets being formed by trade agreements are transnational," the letter states. "As such, they require transnational guarantees of basic rights. It's time for effective hemispheric, and ultimately global, bills of rights." Human rights groups signing the letter include: Freedom House, International League for Human Rights, International Human Rights Law Group, Center for Constitutional Rights, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Human Rights Advocates and the Congressional Human Rights Foundation. Source: Draft Open Letter/Petition to President Clinton, WORLD POLICY INSTITUTE, May 17, 1993. ________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary ________________________________________________________ EC PLANS COUNTER SANCTIONS AGAINST U.S. The European Community will counter U.S. public procurement sanctions by imposing $15 million worth of similar sanctions. U.S. suppliers will be banned from contracting with EC agencies dealing in transport, hotel and catering and certain legal and management services. A long list of EC agencies covered by the ban has been released, including Britain's Department of the Cabinet Office, France's National Library and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland. European Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan and U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor reached a partial solution to the public contracts row which has been on-going since January. The European Commission assured member-nations that the new sanctions would not spark a tit-for-tat trade war. Sources: "EC Sets Limited Counter-Sanctions Against U.S.," REUTER, June 2, 1993. ________________________________________________________ CAIRNS GROUP WORRIES FARM DEAL WILL BE REOPENED Australia will urge the Cairns Group of agricultural exporting nations to take a tougher stance in GATT world trade talks, said Australian Trade Minister Peter Cook after meeting with EC Trade Commissioner Leon Brittan and EC Agriculture Commissioner Rene Steichen in Brussels. Cook said the officials failed to reassure him the EC would accept last November's EC-U.S. agriculture deal. "I don't think the Commission was in a position to give me a commitment (on the farm deal) in advance," Cook said. He described the farm deal as "rock bottom" in terms of what would be acceptable for the Cairns Group. "I don't think I will be returning to the Southern Hemisphere thinking that all is sweet on agriculture." Cook said he intends to urge the Cairns nations to adopt a tough message on the farm accord during their meeting in Bangkok June 26-27. The 14-member Cairns Group was formed to lobby against protectionism in international agriculture trade policy. Sources: Lionel Barber, "EC Fails to Ease Cairns Group Fears," FINANCIAL TIMES, June 2, 1993; "Cairns Group Set to Back EC-U.S. Farm Deal-Australia," REUTER, June 2, 1993. ________________________________________________________ Produced by: Kai Mander and Gigi Boivin 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 ________________________________________________________