TRADE NEWS BULLETIN Volume II Number 5 Friday, January 8, 1993 __________________________________________________ NAFTA News Summary __________________________________________________ SALINAS AND CLINTON MEET TODAY Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and U.S, President-elect Bill Clinton will meet in Austin, Texas today for a "get-acquainted" meeting. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is expected to dominate the discussion, but the leaders will also discuss immigration, foreign aid, drug trafficking, extradition laws, the Central American peace process and a proposed nuclear waste dump in southern Texas. Clinton's cabinet nominees and Mexican trade negotiators will not attend the 90 minute meeting. Although the NAFTA text has been signed by the leaders of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, the final details of the agreement could change substantially by the time the legislative bodies of the three countries vote on ratification. Clinton has said he will not sign NAFTA's implementing legislation if supplemental agreements on labor and environmental issues are not reached. Salinas may demand the formation of a development fund for Mexico in exchange for re- opening negotiations. It remains unclear how these supplemental agreements would be linked to the existing text. While NAFTA is expected to pass easily in the Mexican and Canadian legislatures, the outcome in the U.S. Congress is difficult to predict. Intense lobbying efforts are being carried out on both sides. A press release issued today by a number of farm, environmental and labor organizations calls on Clinton to "Keep Campaign Promises on NAFTA," and not sign an agreement without "adequate protection for workers, farmers and the environment on both sides of the border." The release contains a quote by former Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower saying, "The NAFTA is so ugly it'd rot a cantaloupe at 100 paces. We can do better than this." Mexican, Canadian and American groups opposed to NAFTA will release a document this month combining their analyses of the agreement. Meanwhile, more than 800 U.S. companies, consumer groups, agriculture and trade associations sent Clinton a letter calling the agreement "the best international commercial agreement the U.S. has ever negotiated." Source: Keith Bradsher, Clinton to Meet Today with Mexican Leader," NEW YORK TIMES, Jan. 8, 1993; Nancy Dunne, "Clinton's First Big Challenge: Meet Salinas and Save NAFTA," FINANCIAL TIMES, Jan. 8, 1993; Press Release: "Coalition Tells Clinton: Keep Campaign Promises on NAFTA," Jan. 8, 1993; "Business Groups Urge Clinton to Act on NAFTA Pact," REUTER, Jan. 7, 1993; Joseph P. Frazer, "Salinas - Clinton Summit," AP, Jan. 7, 1993; AMERICAN PUBLIC RADIO; "Clinton, Salinas May Discuss Proposed Nuclear Waste Dump," UP, Jan. 7, 1993. __________________________________________________ GATT News Summary __________________________________________________ U.S. PUSHING TO CUT TARIFFS In a last ditch effort to reach some kind of a deal in the Uruguay Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) talks, the Bush administration has turned its attention away from controversial issues such as trade in services rules, and is instead trying to reach a world-wide tariff agreement by the end of next week. The effort started last Saturday when U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills met with new European Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan in London. Bush officials were scheduled to present the list of hundreds of proposed tariff cuts to Geneva today. Source: Keith Bradsher, "Push by U.S. to Cut Tariffs is Reported," NEW YORK TIMES, January 8, 1993; "Brittan, Hills Met for GATT Talks," REUTER, January 8, 1993. __________________________________________________ BAUCUS: CLINTON SHOULD SEEK GATT FAST TRACK The chair of the U.S. Senate finance committee on international trade, Max Baucus (D-Montana), said President-elect Bill Clinton should seek renewal of "fast-track" negotiating power to continue the current GATT negotiations. Baucus said the renewal is necessary because it is unlikely a GATT agreement will be reached by the time the current authority expires in March. Source: "U.S. Senator Sees Renewed GATT Authority," REUTER, January 7, 1993. __________________________________________________ FRENCH BANK: REGIONAL TRADE BLOCKS OVER GATT "The current GATT crisis could be the start of a fresh look at the free-market doctrine," said a report published yesterday by Banque Indosuez, a French bank. "When each of the three main economic zones contains such a wide range of economic situations and comparable advantages, one must wonder if the multilateral approach to world trade as conceived by GATT must not now provisionally give way to one of regional integration." The report said costs in terms of unemployment might not be overcome by the benefits of a completed agreement, in part because labor is not as mobile as merchandise. The report said the EC-US farm deal reached last month will go beyond the EC's common agricultural policy, but that its impact will ease in the long-term. Source: "GATT Stalemate May Favor Trade Zones - Indosuez," REUTER, January 7, 1993. __________________________________________________ RESOURCES "Rendering Rio Moot: Trade Policy at the Earth Summit - The UNCED Papers of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, " by Kristin Dawkins, January 1993. Available from: The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, US$3.50. __________________________________________________ Other On-line Conferences: trade.strategy - a discussion of trade issues trade.library - a repository of trade information eai.news - a news summary of Latin American trade topics susag.news - a news summary of sustainable agriculture issues Produced by: Hannah Holm, The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) 1313 Fifth Street SE, Suite #303 Minneapolis, MN 55414-1546 USA Tel:(612)379-5980 Fax:(612)379-5982 E-Mail:kmander@igc.org _________________________________________________________