TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume 2 Number 212 Tuesday, November 30, 1993 Headlines: NEGOTIATORS SCRAMBLE TO COMPLETE DEALS U.S. MAY BE WILLING TO MAKE MINOR CHANGES TO BLAIR HOUSE JAPAN PLANS TO LIFT RICE BAN KANTOR, MACLAREN DISCUSS NAFTA AMENDMENTS ________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary ________________________________________________________ NEGOTIATORS SCRAMBLE TO COMPLETE DEALS The Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) today began tabling draft texts of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and will continue the process through December 15 -- the target conclusion date. All substantive negotiations are to be completed by December 13 so that texts can be finalized and translated by December 15. "The point is we have to have time to wrap up," said GATT Director- General Peter Sutherland. "People must know they can't just come in on the 15th and go on talking." France is calling for an even earlier deadline -- December 10 -- saying it wants to present a draft accord to Parliament for a vote of confidence. A veto of the GATT accord by the French National Assembly could unravel the Uruguay Round. Lead trade negotiators meet this week in a series of separate talks to push GATT negotiations forward. German Chancellor Helmut Kohl meets in Bonn today with French President Francois Mitterand and French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur for a Franco-German summit, during which they are expected to resolve recent tensions over farm trade with the United States. Brittan will talk with U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor Wednesday in an attempt to settle differences over proposed market access deals covering steel, textiles, audio visual products, aircraft and farm subsidies. Some leading GATT participants remain optimistic that the Uruguay Round can be completed by December 15. "I don't think there is anyone (in Geneva) who does not believe now that the Round will finish with an agreement," said one ambassador. The Uruguay Round of GATT talks has faced and failed to meet four completion deadlines since it was launched in September 1986. But Kantor said last week that there would not be another deadline extension if negotiators cannot agree by December 15. Sources: "GATT Race Speeds Up Before Vital Meetings," REUTER, November 29, 1993; Chakravarthi Raghavan, "DFA Texts to be Closed on 13 December," SUNS, November 26, 1993; John Hurst, "France Conjures Up New Deadline," AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, November 29, 1993; Paul Taylor, "France, Germany Seek Joint Stance in GATT Endgame," REUTER, November 29, 1993; "GATT Deal Has Faced Four Deadlines in Seven Years," REUTER, November 25, 1993; Wilson da Silva, "No Extension of Uruguay Round Talks -- Kantor," REUTER, November 25, 1993. ________________________________________________________ U.S. MAY BE WILLING TO MAKE MINOR CHANGES TO BLAIR HOUSE The United States may agree to two minor changes in the Blair House farm accord: a more flexible timetable for the implementation of cuts in subsidized exports and an extension of the peace clause beyond the current proposal of six years. But U.S. negotiators did not show any willingness to bend on most of the major proposals put forward by France. "The United States has agreed to discuss everything but it is not moving on most of them," said a French official. "We are at an arm-wrestling stage." A GATT conclusion depends largely on whether the U.S. and French can resolve their dispute over farm trade. Lorenz Schomerus, assistant secretary for International Affairs at the German Economics Ministry, said an accord was "possible only if the United States makes concessions." Sources: "U.S. Willing to Move on Two Blair House Issues," REUTER, November 29, 1993; Roger Cohen, "World Trade Talks Underline French-German Differences," NEW YORK TIMES, November 30, 1993. ________________________________________________________ JAPAN PLANS TO LIFT RICE BAN Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa will be forced to make tough political decision next week between the passage of domestic political reforms and the conclusion of GATT world trade talks. Hosokawa based his election campaign on promises to eliminate political corruption in Japan and is now pushing for passage of an electoral reform package. The package, which passed Parliament's Lower House, is now being stalled in Japan's Upper House by the former opposition party. In addition, Hosokawa could lose support for the reform package from the Socialist Party, the largest group in his seven-member coalition government, if he decides to lift Japan's 45-year old rice ban under GATT. "We promised to carry out political reform but never pledged to liberalize rice imports," said Takeshi Takeuchi, a Social Democratic Party official. Japanese newspapers report that Hosokawa will announce plans December 10 to lift the ban on rice imports if the United States and European Union successfully conclude talks on the Blair House farm accord. Under the rice proposal, secretly negotiated between Japan and the United States, Japan would begin importing a "minimum access" amount of rice equal to four percent of its national production and raise the level to eight percent in exchange for a six year moratorium on import tariffs. Negotiations to completely lift the ban would then reopen in fiscal year 1999-2000. Sources: Linda Sieg, "Japan Poised to Unveil Rice Market Opening -- Media," REUTER, November 27, 1993; "Rice Imports May Split Coalition," AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, November 28, 1993; Andrew Pollack, U.S. and Japan in Pact on Rice Import Limits," NEW YORK TIMES, November 30, 1993; Abi Sekimitsu, "Japan Holds Hard Line But Speculation Grows," REUTER, November 26, 1993; "Tokyo and Washington Agree Rice Deal According to Japanese Government," BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION, November 27, 1993; Linda Sieg, "Japan Faces Bottleneck on Rice Reform, Tax Cuts," REUTER, November 28, 1993. ________________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary ________________________________________________________ KANTOR, MACLAREN DISCUSS NAFTA AMENDMENTS U.S. and Canadian trade ministers met in Washington Monday to discuss differences and potential side deals to NAFTA. The Canadian government still demands clarification of government subsidies, anti- dumping rules, water transfers and energy before it will implement the trinational trade accord. MacLaren called the meeting "constructive and useful" and said he would meet again with Kantor to iron-out differences, particularly in energy. Kantor was optimistic after the two-hour discussion and told reporters, "We have full confidence that Canada will proclaim the NAFTA." Sources: "U.S. Canada to Discuss NAFTA Differences," REUTER, November 29, 1993; William Watson, "Chretien Should Get Over His Energy Hang-Up," FINANCIAL POST, November 26, 1993; "Canada-U.S. NAFTA Meeting Set for Next Week," JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, November 23, 1993; "Kantor Confident Canada Will Proclaim NAFTA," REUTER, November 30, 1993; "U.S., Canada Discuss NAFTA Differences," REUTER, November 29, 1993. ________________________________________________________ Editor: Gigi DiGiacomo 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 ________________________________________________________