From kmander@igc.apc.org Date: 26 Jul 94 15:19 PDT From: Kai Mander Reply to: "Conference trade.news" To: "Recipients of conference trade.news" Newsgroups: trade.news Subject: Trade Week 7-27-94 Trade Week in Review and Resources Tuesday, July 27, 1994 Volume 3, Number 30 _________________________________________________ Headlines: PACKWOOD: LABOR COULD KILL GATT LAWMAKERS HINGE GATT SUPPORT ON DAIRY LAURENCE TRIBE CONCERNED ABOUT GATT INVENTORS WORRIED ABOUT PATENTS ENGLISH MP RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT GATT BUSINESS GROUP WANTS STRONGER RULES RESOURCES _________________________________________________ GATT NEWS SUMMARY _________________________________________________ PACKWOOD: LABOR COULD KILL GATT Senator Bob Packwood (R-Oregon), the ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee, reportedly told President Clinton July 22 that Republicans will "kill" GATT if it links trade to labor standards and the environment. As part of implementing legislation, the Clinton administration is seeking an extension of fast-track negotiating authority for seven years, with labor standards and environmental protection among the administration's negotiating objectives for future trade agreements. The Finance Committee is close to reaching a bipartisan agreement on ways to offset lost federal revenues under GATT, and Packwood said he doubted there would be opposition to the trade pact based on the funding plan. "The real problem is going to be on 'fast-track,' if it includes labor and/or environment," Packwood said. "If that's the case, we'll kill the agreement." Packwood also said he opposes efforts to modify GATT legislation to include "unnecessary and inappropriate" provisions to extend the Generalized System of Preferences or to grant "parity" to textile and apparel imports from the Caribbean. Sources: "Sen. Packwood Says GOP Will 'Kill' GATT Bill Including Labor Standards," BNA, July 25, 1994; "Senate Moving to Act on GATT," UPI, July 22, 1994. _________________________________________________ LAWMAKERS HINGE GATT SUPPORT ON DAIRY Twenty-two members of Congress have sent U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor a letter hinging their support for GATT on whether dairy industry recommendations are incorporated into implementing legislation. Calling GATT "bad for the American dairy industry," the lawmakers said the trade pact would lower milk prices and displace domestic dairy products by foreign products. They have asked Kantor to add six provisions to implementing legislation, including full federal funding of the Dairy Export Incentive Program at the maximum volume and dollar amounts allowable under GATT. Source: "Lawmakers Pin GATT Support on New Dairy Provisions," REUTER, July 22, 1994. _________________________________________________ LAURENCE TRIBE CONCERNED ABOUT GATT The Multistate Tax Commission released a letter July 21 by Harvard constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe expressing "grave misgivings" about GATT's potential to pre-empt state and local laws. "I see no way to avoid the conclusion that the legal regime put in place by the Uruguay Round represents a structural rearrangement of state-federal relations of the sort that requires ratification by two- thirds of the Senate as a treaty," Tribe said in a letter to Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-West Virginia). Tribe said he supports the principles of free trade outlined in the Uruguay Round but that "the structural safeguards of the Constitution must not be ignored." Source: "MTC, Harvard Professor, Express Concerns Over Pre-Emption of State Laws Under GATT," BNA, July 25, 1994. _________________________________________________ INVENTORS WORRIED ABOUT PATENTS Fifty American inventors have written a letter to President Clinton expressing their concern about proposed changes to the U.S. patent system. Clinton has proposed in GATT implementing legislation that U.S. patent law be changed from 17 years from date of issuance to 20 years from the date of filing. The inventors say because patents often take years to be issued the change would encourage "delaying tactics by those who don't want the patent to issue, penalizing inventors for patent office delay and significantly reducing the worth of the patent and the incentive to invest in developing the invention." They also contend that the current U.S. patent system would comply with GATT. The letter was sent by Intellectual Property Creators, a group that includes two Nobel Laureates, 15 members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and Donald Banner, who was Patent Commissioner under President Carter. Source: "American Inventors Voice Serious Concerns About Proposed Patent Law Changes in Letter to Clinton," PR NEWSWIRE, July 25, 1994. __________________________________________________ ENGLISH MP RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT GATT UK Member of Parliament Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson, has written to the Speaker of the House of Commons asking her to clarify what parliamentary process needs to be followed to implement GATT in the United Kingdom. Hughes has asked Speaker Betty Boothroyd to clarify the implications of GATT for UK laws on health, safety and the environment. Hughes wrote: "The direct impact of this magnitude of economic activity and the effect of GATT 1994 rules on Parliamentary sovereignty and democratic accountability to the people of the UK seem to warrant further Parliamentary scrutiny." Hughes said he is concerned that the English Government is seeking ratification of GATT under the little known Ponsonby Rule, thereby evading the need for formal Parliamentary approval. Sources: "Hughes Raises Concern With the Speaker Over Possible Changes to UK Law Needed to Meet GATT Requirements," LIBERAL DEMOCRATS PRESS RELEASE, July 21, 1994; LETTER FROM SIMON HUGHES MP TO RT. HON BETTY BOOTHROYD, July 20, 1994. __________________________________________________ ENGLISH MP RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT GATT Australian Trade Minister Bob McMullan said Sunday that Australian officials expect the Uruguay Round of GATT to go into effect January 1 as scheduled. "All the signs are reasonably optimistic," he said in a television interview. "I expect all the major economic groupings to have passed the legislation in time for a January 1 start-up." Several countries have proposed a delay in implementing GATT while the U.S. and Japan continue to negotiate their trade imbalance. Australia, which has not yet passed GATT legislation, does not want to be hurt by a U.S.-Japanese settlement, McMullan said. "That's one of the things I was there (in Japan) pressing, both with the Japanese government and with the private sector in Japan, that they don't do any special side deals with the United States to our disadvantage to appease them on the trade problem," McMullan said. Source: ""Australia Confident GATT Deal to Go Ahead on Time," REUTER, July 24, 1994. __________________________________________________ BUSINESS GROUP WANTS STRONGER RULES An international group of business and labor leaders released a study critical of U.S. trade and industrial policy. Published by the British-North American Committee, the study says stronger multilateral trade rules need to be formulated quickly to avoid new trade disputes. The authors say one possible solution could be to create a 'Super-GATT', open to countries agreeing to new rules intended to eliminate non-tariff barriers. Source: Guy de Jonquieres, "Stronger Rules Urged to Prevent Trade War," FINANCIAL TIMES, July 25, 1994. __________________________________________________ RESOURCES __________________________________________________ For copies of the following, please contact the organizations or authors listed: "Water and North American Free Trade: Problems and Prospects for a Viable Water in Mexico," Roberto Salinas Leon, CENTRE FOR FREE ENTERPRISE RESEARCH, 1992. 33 pages. Solidarity Foundation, 310 West 52nd Street, New York, NY 10019. (212) 765-9510. Fax: (212) 956-4214. Solidarity Foundation is a very important source for information on water rights and international interbasin water transfer projects. "The Dutch Challenge: A Look at How the United States' Consumption Must Change to Achieve Global Sustainability," Alex Hittle, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, May 1994. 24 pages. Friends of the Earth, 1025 Vermont Ave. N.W., Suite 300, Washington, D.C. (202) 783-7400. Fax: (202) 783-0444. $5. Comments on this discussion draft are invited. "What Else Is There to Do?: Neglected Prospects for Major Job Creation in U.S. Manufacturing," Seymour Melman, NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR ECONOMIC CONVERSION AND DISARMAMENT, October 1993. National Commission for Economic Conversion and Disarmament, 1828 Jefferson Place N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. (202) 728-0815. Fax: (202) 728-0826. $8. "World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health," WORLD BANK, June 1993. 329 pages. World Bank Publications, Customer Service Inquiries, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433. (202) 473-1155. Fax: (202) 676-0581. $19.95. __________________________________________________ Trade Week in Review is produced by: Kai Mander Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) 1313 5th Street, SE, Suite 303 Minneapolis, MN 55414-1546 USA tel: (612) 379-5980 fax: (612) 379-5982 email: kmander@igc.apc.org _________________________________________________