TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume 2 Number 158 Tuesday, September 7, 1993 ________________________________________________________ HEADLINES: U.S. Groups Form Unusual Alliances Over NAFTA Campbell Expected To Announce Election Date This Week Economic Unification In Western Hemisphere Expected France Warns Of September Crisis, Says Eight EC Members Back Farm Position ________________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary ________________________________________________________ U.S. GROUPS FORM UNUSUAL ALLIANCES OVER NAFTA Alliances are forming among unlikely partners over the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement. Environmental, labor, consumer, agriculture, civil rights and church groups have formed coalitions to battle against the proposed free trade accord along with right-wing writer Pat Buchanan, Ross Perot, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and consumer advocate Ralph Nader. The Sierra Club and the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, for example, which ususally represent opposite views in the Pacific Northwest's logging debate, have teamed up in opposition to NAFTA. "A lot of the Sierra Club's issues aren't our issues," said Ron Fortune, executive secretary of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, which represents 50,000 lumber and timber workers. "NAFTA just kind of presented itself as an ideal vehicle" for alliances, said Leslie Kochan, a volunteer with the state Department of Environmental Quality. California Treasurer Kathleen Brown recently joined opposition groups when she reversed her position on NAFTA, saying the trade pact would not adequately protect California against job loss. NAFTA "sells California, our workers and our country short," said Brown, who is the leading Democratic candidate in the California governor's race. "The NAFTA package creates huge costs for California but does not give us any guarantees that the federal government will meet its obligations to help cover our bills," Brown said. "There is no guaranteed funding for environmental cleanup, training for dislocated workers or infrastructure improvement." As recently as last week, Brown publicly backed NAFTA. Sources: April Lynch, "State Treasurer Brown Now Opposes NAFTA," SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, September 7, 1993; Gerald Seib, "Christian Coalition Hopes to Expand by Taking Stands on Taxes, Crime, Health Care and NAFTA," WALL STREET JOURNAL, September 7, 1993; George Graham, "Clinton Goes Campaigning on All Fronts," FINANCIAL TIMES, September 6, 1993; "California's Brown Reverses NAFTA Stance," UPI, September 6, 1993; Hobart Rowen, "The Unlikely Allies in the NAFTA Fight," WASHINGTON POST, September 5, 1993; Peter Behr, "NAFTA Creating Odd Alliances; In Oregon, Labor, Churches, Environmentalists Fight Plan," WASHINGTON POST, September 4, 1993. ________________________________________________________ CAMPBELL EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE ELECTION DATE THIS WEEK Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Sunday that she plans to announce a general election date this week. Analysts expect the announcement sometime Tuesday or Wednesday and predict the election will be set for October 25. The election campaign is expected to center on unemployment problems and the proposed free trade accord between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Liberals have vowed to renegotiate certain clauses of NAFTA to protect Canadian manufacturing jobs. Campbell, who represents the Conservative party, has been a strong supporter of the trade pact, which has already been approved by the Canadian Parliament. Source: A. Boadle, "Canadian Prime Minister to Call Election This Week," REUTER, September 6, 1993. ________________________________________________________ ECONOMIC UNIFICATION IN WESTERN HEMISPHERE EXPECTED Former U.S. ambassador to Mexico John Negroponte said NAFTA approval could lead to economic unification throughout the western hemisphere by "the next generation." "It's indispensable to approve NAFTA as the first step towards this goal," Negroponte said. Chile, Argentina and Venezuela have already been mentioned as possible candidates to join the free trade accord if it is ratified. Source: "Negroponte: NAFTA Could Lead to Economic Unification," UPI, September 4, 1993. ________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary ________________________________________________________ FRANCE WARNS OF SEPTEMBER CRISIS, SAYS EIGHT EC MEMBERS BACK FARM POSITION France warned that the September 20 meeting of EC foreign and farm ministers could launch a crisis for the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade if EC members fail to reopen the U.S.-EC farm accord. France formally demanded modifications to the farm accord, threatening to veto the deal if changes were not made. "Unless it is reopened," said a senior French official, "there will be a crisis in September rather than December." Peter Sutherland, GATT director-general, has called for a conclusion of the Uruguay Round of global trade talks by December 15, 1993. France also reported that eight of the 12 EC member countries back France's objections to the farm accord. "Already among the 12 there are about eight that support France on agricultural questions," said France's Industry and Trade Minister Gerard Longuet. "We have seen the beginning of something that looks like a movement." But Longuet said that those members who do not support France are important voters. Germany, which decided to reconsider its opposition to the farm accord last week after Sutherland visited with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, is one of the missing members in France's alliance. German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said he hoped France would settle for a reinterpretation of the U.S.-EC farm accord rather than a renegotiation of the pact. "Perhaps we will come to a point through negotiations where a change in the Blair House accord will not be necessary," Kinkel said. Belgium has also changed its stance over the agriculture agreement and is reportedly determined to avoid reopening the U.S.-EC farm accord, also known as the Blair House deal. Sutherland said EC rejection of the Blair House accord would jeopardize the entire round of global negotiations. "The confused position which the EC has today worries me: it is threatening our capacity to conclude the negotiations," Sutherland said. "If the EC were to reject Blair House I can't see how we could reach a general agreement to the Uruguay Round." Sources: David Gardner, "France Demands Changes to EC-U.S. Farm Trade Agreement," FINANCIAL TIMES, September 7, 1993; "France Says Eight EC States Oppose Farm Deal," REUTER, September 6, 1993; David Buchan, "France May Veto Farm Trade Accord," FINANCIAL TIMES, September 6, 1993; "EC Confusion Threatening GATT Deal -- Sutherland," REUTER, September 4, 1993. ________________________________________________________ Correction: Last Friday's Trade News should have been numbered Vol 2 Number 157. ________________________________________________________ Editor: 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 ________________________________________________________