>From kmander@igc.apc.org Wed Sep 29 20:13:45 1993 TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume 2 Number 173 Wednesday, September 29, 1993 Headlines: STUDY: WOMEN WILL SUFFER HIGH JOB LOSS RISK UNDER NAFTA MEXICO GRANTED WORLD BANK LOAN TO CLEAN UP POLLUTION CANADA REJECTS BLAIR HOUSE, WILL BEGIN LOBBYING CAMPAIGN EUROPEAN CULTURE INDUSTRY CALLS FOR EXEMPTION UNDER GATT U.S. TEXTILE PROPOSAL CALLED INSUFFICIENT ________________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary ________________________________________________________ STUDY: WOMEN WILL SUFFER HIGH JOB LOSS RISK UNDER NAFTA A study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a Washington-based think-tank, shows that women would be highly vulnerable to job loss under the North American Free Trade Agreement. According to EPI economist Thea Lee, women dominate the workforce in those industries most likely to move plants and jobs to Mexico. Seventy- eight percent of the 988,000 apparel manufacturing jobs in the U.S. are held by mostly minority and immigrant women in the rural South and in Los Angeles and New York. Consumer electronics and electrical machinery manufacturing industries employ 630,000 women, 42 percent of the industries' workforce. Those industries, as well as six others, are expected to experience the greatest job loss under NAFTA, according to a 1992 study by EPI. "NAFTA would make many women more vulnerable -- either through job loss or lowered wages," Lee said. "And once women are displaced, they tend to fare worse than men do." Source: Nancy Ryan, "NAFTA Called Greater Job Risk for Women," CHICAGO TRIBUNE, September 29, 1993. ________________________________________________________ MEXICO GRANTED WORLD BANK LOAN TO CLEAN UP POLLUTION The Mexican government signed a $3 billion loan agreement yesterday with the World Bank to finance pollution cleanup mostly along the U.S.-Mexico border region. A total of $700 million in funds is designated for revamping water supplies, sanitation systems and other environmental facilities in the border regions. The funds, which are to be spent from 1994 to 1996, consist of $1.8 billion in World Bank loans and $1.2 billion from the Mexican government. NAFTA supporters hope the funds will generate support for NAFTA. "This series of loans to Mexico will serve as an important complement to the programs we have developed in the NAFTA," said U.S. Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen. Source: Gary Lee, "World Bank, Mexico Agree on Pollution Cleanup Loan," WASHINGTON POST, September 29, 1993. ________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary ________________________________________________________ CANADA REJECTS BLAIR HOUSE, WILL BEGIN LOBBYING CAMPAIGN The Canadian government has teamed up with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), which represents 200,000 farmers, to lobby the United States and Europe next week over agricultural provisions in the Uruguay Round of GATT talks. Canada does not plan to support the Blair House farm accord, negotiated between the U.S. and EC last November, saying the agreement does not go far enough in cutting subsidies, particularly for grain. Canadian Trade Minister Tom Hockin said Monday in a news release, "Our objectives remain unchanged ... that is to improve market- access opportunities for our export-oriented sector, while allowing us to continue operating our supply-managed system within a stable and predictable environment." Canada is lobbying GATT members for permanent protection of its principle supply management programs in GATT. Under Article XI of the proposed Dunkel draft, Canada's poultry, egg and dairy programs would be open to program cuts within six years. "The Minister indicated to us that with other countries receiving concessions and exceptions to the 1991 Dunkel draft, Canada will insist on getting its changes, including the clarification of Article XI," said Peter Oosterhoff, president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada. Canada's dairy, egg and poultry industries are responsible for creating about 100,000 jobs and contributing more than $10 billion a year to the Canadian economy. Sources: "Government and Farmers Team-Up on New GATT Strategy," CCMA, September 28, 1993; Joe Sinasac, "Trade Minister Backs Marketing Boards," OTTAWA CITIZEN, September 29, 1993; P.Morton, "Ottawa Nixes Farm Package," FINANCIAL POST, September 29, 1993; "Hockin Reaffirms Canadian Position in Uruguay Round," MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE, September 27, 1993. ________________________________________________________ EUROPEAN CULTURE INDUSTRY CALLS FOR EXEMPTION UNDER GATT EC actors, artists and producers continue to call for an exemption clause under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to protect Europe from "cultural dumping" by the United States. "If culture cannot be treated as an exception in GATT negotiations, Europe's cultural identity will die," said French film director Claude Berri. The EC currently requires television stations to devote at least 50 percent of their broadcasts to European-made material. European artists and producers worry that American productions will flood the market if the EC requirement is lifted under a GATT accord. EC trade chief Leon Brittan said the United States offered some understanding of the EC culture position during his meeting Monday with U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor. "In several fields, I saw understanding for Europe's position that I had not seen before," Brittan said. The United States has consistently pushed for the inclusion of television and film sectors in the Uruguay Round. Sources: "Brittan Says U.S. Moves on Cultural Position," REUTER, September 29, 1993; "Appel des Auteurs, Artistes Interpretes et Producteurs Europeens Pour L'Exception Culturelle Dans le GATT," LE MONDE, September 29, 1993; Francois Raitberger, "French Film Epic Germinal Sparks Political Row," REUTER, September 28, 1993. ________________________________________________________ U.S. TEXTILE PROPOSAL CALLED INSUFFICIENT EC negotiators and textile industry representatives dismissed as "insufficient" a recent U.S. tariff-reduction proposal on woolen products. "From our position, their offer on textiles was very, very small," said one EC official. "It's not clear if it even is an offer." The U.S. proposal fell far short of the 50 percent reduction in textile tariffs the U.S. promised last July during the Group of Seven Summit. U.S. negotiators last week offered to cut duties on woolen fabric from 33 percent to 28 percent. "The draft proposal they have put forward is regarded by the industry as insufficient, grossly insufficient," said a European textile industry official Friday. Source: Keith M. Rockwell, "Hopes Snag For a Textile Deal in the Uruguay Round," JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, September 27, 1993. ________________________________________________________ Editor: Gigi DiGiacomo 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 ________________________________________________________