Clinton calls for lifting trades barriers with Asia
Clinton calls for lifting trades barriers with Asia
WASHINGTON (AFP): President Bill Clinton said Thursday
America's success in the 21st century depends on tearing down
trade barriers with Latin America and Asia and preparing U.S.
workers to meet the competition.
Groundwork for dropping trade barriers will be laid at next
week's APEC summit in Indonesia, the Summit of the Americas in
Miami in December and with Congressional approval of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, he said.
The president will find like-minded leaders at the APEC
meeting and the Summit of the Americas, but while GATT appears to
be headed for passage in Congress it will likely be on the
opposition Republican timetable, not his.
Clinton said he was "confident Congress will ratify the GATT"
but Republicans, who seized control of Congress in Tuesday's
midterm elections, may delay the vote until next year to put
their imprint on the accord.
"The United States has been leading the world in pushing for
the adoption of GATT, and now we've got to follow through and
lead once again," Clinton said in a foreign policy statement at
his alma mater Georgetown University.
"We should not delay GATT. That will jeopardize our leadership
and our prosperity ... It is the key link to free trade, more
open societies and economic growth all around this world."
Senator Ernest Hollings, a South Carolina Democrat and
chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, urged Republicans
Wednesday to reject GATT because the cost of implementing it
would violate their commitment to a balanced budget.
Competitiveness
The United States has worked to improve its competitiveness
and open markets around the world and has scored major successes,
he said, noting the United States is the leading producer of
semiconductors and automobiles.
But as trade barriers fall, he said, competition will become
more intense and American workers must be prepared to improve
skills, be retrained for other jobs and to adjust to coming
uncertainties and changes.
"The United States has never been in a stronger economic
position to meet both these challenges, to compete and win in the
world," Clinton said.
But, he added, "for too many of our people, trade still
appears to be a gale force wind, just another threat ready to
blow away the prospects of a stable job at a good wage, just
another problem adding to the already unstable, uncertain
condition of their lives."
Clinton tried to inspire confidence in the trade steps, noting
that for every billion dollars in U.S. exports, 16,000 jobs were
created in the United States and on average those jobs are better
paying.
Exports to Mexico and Canada under the North American Free
Trade Agreement have increased by 20 percent -- three times the
overall export rate -- within the first six months while creating
as many as 100,000 jobs, he said.
Clinton also said the United States pursuit of trade issues at
the APEC summit Indonesia next week will not be at the expense of
human rights which will be pursued in private bilateral meetings.
"I don't think we have to choose between increasing trade and
fostering human rights and open societies," he said, adding that
history has shown prosperity leads to expanded rights and
political maturity.
"The advance of human rights and democratic values also
require strong government-to-government contacts, so I'll
continue to promote without apology those rights and values in
Asia and around the world."
Clinton also said the United States will increase its economic
presence in Asia while encouraging stronger regional security
agreements.
"I am going to Indonesia to say, 'we remain engaged,'" he
said.
"We must say to the world that we will maintain and strengthen
our bilateral security relationship with Japan, South Korea, with
Australia, with the Philippines, with Thailand and others."
In addition to the forward presence of U.S. troops in Asia,
Clinton said, "We will encourage stronger regional security
structures" and will remain committed to a non-nuclear Korean
peninsula.