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.