TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume 2 Number 160 Thursday, September 9, 1993 Headlines: CLINTON PUTS HEALTH CARE FIRST ON CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA EPA CHIEF SAYS NAFTA WILL BOOST GREEN TECHNOLOGY BALLADUR REJECTS DECEMBER GATT DEADLINE ________________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary ________________________________________________________ CLINTON PUTS HEALTH CARE FIRST ON CONGRESSIONAL AGENDA President Bill Clinton postponed plans to campaign for the North American Free Trade Agreement until after health care legislation is introduced to Congress this fall. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor said the delay and lack of congressional support could push NAFTA's implementation beyond the January 1 deadline. "Timing is one thing," Kantor said. "Having the votes is another. They may or may not have any effect on each other." However, House Speaker Tom Foley (D-Washington) predicted that NAFTA would be ratified this year, while health care and government reorganization legislation would not win approval until 1994. Two-thirds of House members are reportedly opposed to the free trade agreement for reasons ranging from the environment to agriculture and labor. A number of congressional members who favor the health care package urged Clinton to introduce health care legislation in Congress before NAFTA, arguing that the president would not have enough political capital to pass both. But Clinton remains optimistic, saying yesterday that chances were "very good" that all of his fall initiatives will win congressional approval. Ross Perot said he expects the free trade accord to "die" in 1995 if it goes into effect in January. "There is a six-month termination clause on NAFTA, it will be dead in '95 if it gets through in '94," he said. Perot, who is strongly opposed to NAFTA, argued that the U.S.- Canada Free Trade Agreement signed in 1989 has resulted in a joint loss of 400,000 jobs due to a slight wage differential. "I rest my case," Perot said, indicating that even more jobs will be lost under NAFTA due to the enormous wage gap between the United States and Mexico. Source: Gwen Ifill, "Clinton Puts Trade Pact on the Back Burner," NEW YORK TIMES, September 9, 1993; Lori Santos, "Clinton 'Looking Forward' to Hill Bipartisanship," UPI, September 8, 1993; "Perot: If NAFTA Passes in 1994, It Will Die in 1995," REUTER, September 7, 1993. ________________________________________________________ EPA CHIEF SAYS NAFTA WILL BOOST GREEN TECHNOLOGY Carol Browner, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, said she expects NAFTA to spur strong demand for environmental protection equipment and services. "NAFTA is going to expand the market for environmental technology like we've never seen before," Browner said. Environmental protection products already earn $100 billion per year and Browner said she expects air pollution control industry revenues to rise nearly $70 billion by the year 2000. The EPA is currently compiling a report on the domestic environmental protection industry. "I expect the report to supply us with further evidence of what we already know -- that environmental technology creates good jobs and substantial business growth," Browner said. She noted that the emerging trend toward more flexible environmental regulations that let polluters decide what mechanisms to use in meeting environmental standards has contributed to the strong growth in the environmental technology market. Source: "NAFTA Will Help Sell Green Technology - U.S. EPA Chief," REUTER, September 8, 1993. ________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary ________________________________________________________ BALLADUR REJECTS DECEMBER GATT DEADLINE French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur said France would not compromise on the U.S.-EC farm accord in order to meet the December 15 deadline set to complete the current round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. "We won't let ourselves be boxed in by a date imposed by the United States," Balladur told GATT Director-General Peter Sutherland yesterday. Sutherland, who said the deadline date was "engraved in stone" and agreed to by all other GATT members, has warned that failure to complete a global trade agreement by December 15 would ruin the chances of any agreement at all. "There is only one opportunity left," Sutherland warned. Members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) are expected to discuss alternatives to the long-stalled Uruguay Round when they meet in Washington late this autumn. "If we are unable to conclude the Uruguay Round by December 15 you might see some creative solutions emerge as alternatives," said Nancy Adams, U.S. Trade Representative for Asia and the Pacific. Adams predicted that a number of regional agreements would develop in place of a GATT accord, but she warned that "ultimately we have to come back to the multilateral system." APEC, founded in 1989, includes: Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. Sources: Nelson Graves, "France Tells GATT Chief December 15 Is No Deadline," REUTER, September 8, 1993; Bill Tarrant, "Draft Trade Pacts on APEC Summit Agenda, U.S. Says," REUTER, September 8, 1993. ________________________________________________________ Event: "The World Impact of NAFTA," a conference sponsored by the World Export Processing Zones Association (WEPZA), October 6-8, 1993, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. US$500. Managers from Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Europe will consider the limitations NAFTA may place on their access to the North American market. Key NAFTA negotiators will also attend. Contact: WEPZA, P.O. Box 986, Flagstaff, Arizona 86002, USA. Tel: (602) 779-0052 Fax: (602) 774-8589. ________________________________________________________ Editors: Gigi Boivin and 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 ________________________________________________________