TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume 2 Number 221 Monday, December 13, 1993 Headlines: WATERED-DOWN DEAL POSSIBLE BY DECEMBER 15 JAPAN AGREES TO U.S. ANTI-DUMPING DEMANDS JAPAN CLOSE TO ANNOUNCING IT WILL ACCEPT RICE IMPORTS LOBBYISTS DESCEND ON GENEVA LABOR UNIONS STAGE PROTESTS IN ARKANSAS ________________________________________________________ GATT News Summary ________________________________________________________ WATERED-DOWN DEAL POSSIBLE BY DECEMBER 15 Although Quad members -- the United States, Japan, the European Union and Canada -- made little progress in resolving outstanding trade disputes, GATT Director-General Peter Sutherland remained optimistic that GATT's 115 nations would reach a Uruguay Round agreement by December 15. "I still believe the Round is very clearly within our grasp," he said. Media reports indicate that negotiators may either significantly water-down sections of the GATT text, or drop some of the controversial issues altogether in order to meet the December 15 deadline. New maritime and shipping rules, for example, are likely to be settled outside of the GATT deal. "Shipping is now completely out of the trade round. This is a great success for us," said Greek Deputy National Economy Minister Yannos Papantoniou. Meanwhile, the UAW United Automobile and Aerospace Union, representing 50,000 U.S. aerospace workers, is urging U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor to remove civil aircraft from GATT talks. Negotiators are still working on rules governing textile, audiovisual and financial services. Sources: "Sutherland Says 'We'll Be Alright' in Trade Talks," REUTER, December 12, 1993; Clare Nullis, "GATT-Trade," AP, December 12, 1993; "Delores Says GATT Talks Bogged Down on Several Issues," REUTER, December 12, 1993; Nelson Graves, "GATT Talks Hit Impasse, First Deadline in Jeopardy," REUTER, December 12, 1993; "Clinton Pressing for Final GATT Agreement," UPI, December 12, 1993; Stephen Weeks, "Greece Delighted That Shipping Out of World Trade Talks," REUTER, December 11, 1993; "U.S. Union Urges Aircraft Carve- Out From GATT," REUTER, December 12, 1993; "EC, U.S. in Qualified Agreement on GATT Textile Deal," REUTER, December 12, 1993. ________________________________________________________ JAPAN AGREES TO U.S. ANTI-DUMPING DEMANDS Japan has agreed to eight of 11 U.S. demands on anti-dumping regulations. "We feel that all of our major objectives were satisfied," said Jeffrey Garten, U.S. undersecretary of commerce, after the text was presented to GATT. According to reports, the deals would guarantee that U.S. industries and workers would be able to file a case against foreign competitors whom they believe to be unfairly undercutting U.S. domestic prices. One official said Japan was livid at Washington over the anti-dumping debate. "Japan is extremely unhappy. They feel the Americans have pushed this to its very limit," the source said. A GATT spokesperson said the Uruguay Round was close to complete thanks to the the anti- dumping deal. Sources: "GATT Deal Almost Complete -- GATT Spokesperson," REUTER, December 12, 1993; Lyndsay Griffiths, "U.S. Claims Victory on GATT Dumping Dispute," REUTER, December 12, 1993. ________________________________________________________ JAPAN CLOSE TO ANNOUNCING IT WILL ACCEPT RICE IMPORTS Japan is expected to announce today that it will allow limited rice imports. Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa won the support of the Socialist Party, a key coalition partner, after marathon talks with the party's top officials. Hosokawa's four-month-old government would have been in jeopardy had the Socialists not backed Hosokawa. The Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) said South Korea's ban on rice imports will be partially lifted in 1995 under a deal reached with the United States on Monday. South Korea will import a "minimum access amount" of rice starting in 1995 in return for a 10-year moratorium on replacing the country's blanket ban with tariffs. The amount imported would gradually rise from one percent of South Korea's domestic consumption to four percent after 10 years, KBS said. Sources: Irene Kunii, "Japanese Prime Minister Wins Key Coalition Support on Rice," REUTER, December 14, 1993; "S. Korea Will Open Rice Market From 1995: Report," REUTER, December 13, 1993. ________________________________________________________ LOBBYISTS DESCEND ON GENEVA Lobbyists from around the world have gathered in Geneva to ensure that their interests are not ignored during the final week of global trade talks. U.S. trade negotiator Rufus Yerxa estimated that at least 400 lobbyists had gathered there by Sunday. GATT lobbyists range from lawmakers to environmental, farm and consumer groups to some of the world's largest corporations. U.S. Senators and Representatives arrived in Geneva to lobby negotiators on a number of issues, including anti-dumping measures, protection for U.S. grain farmers and reducing certain European taxes. Five of the six large U.S. environmental groups that supported the North American Free Trade Agreement are calling for environmental provisions in GATT that require countries to produce goods in an environmentally sound way. In France, farmers' unions will hold a nationwide protest on Tuesday to demonstrate their opposition to GATT's agricultural provisions. Sources: Clare Nullis, "GATT-Trade," AP, December 12, 1993; "French Farmers to Stage Local Protests on Tuesday," REUTER, December 10, 1993; Asra Q. Nomani, "Corporate America, United on NAFTA, Discovers That Coalition Building on GATT Is Tougher," WALL STREET JOURNAL, December 13, 1993; Keith Bradsher, "U.S. Politicians Turn Into Lobbyists Over GATT," NEW YORK TIMES, December 11, 1993. ________________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary ________________________________________________________ LABOR UNIONS STAGE PROTESTS IN ARKANSAS A confederation of labor unions blocked traffic Saturday on a major bridge connecting Tennessee and Arkansas to protest President Clinton's support of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Labor unions, led by the AFL-CIO, are angry with Clinton for failing to negotiate a tougher labor side accord to NAFTA. Sixty-one protesters were arrested after members of the AFL-CIO, the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union and the Teamsters took control of the bridge for about one hour. Source: "Labor Protest," AP, December 12, 1993. ________________________________________________ Editors: 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 ________________________________________________________