/* Written 7:14 AM Jul 15, 1994 by kmander in igc:trade.news */ /* ---------- "Trade Week 7-15-94" ---------- */ Trade Week in Review and Resources Friday, July 15, 1994 Volume 3, Number 28 _________________________________________________ Headlines: COUNTIES WORRIED ABOUT GATT CLINTON ALIENATING DEMOCRATS BUSINESSES CRITICAL OF CLINTON ANTI-DUMPING PROPOSALS CONGRESS SEEKS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR TRADE PACTS ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MAKES ECO-LABELLING TOP PRIORITY GENEVA, BONN BATTLE FOR WTO SITE RESOURCES _________________________________________________ GATT NEWS SUMMARY _________________________________________________ COUNTIES WORRIED ABOUT GATT An association representing county governments throughout the United States sent a letter to President Clinton this week expressing concern that local laws and regulations could be undermined by the Uruguay Round of GATT. "The GATT proposals could well undercut the very best of our system of government, which allows ordinary citizens to translate their concerns about issues such as public health, safety and the environment into legislation that makes a difference in the community," states the letter written by the National Association of Counties (NAC), which represents 3,000 U.S. counties. The letter comes just one week after 42 state attorneys general sent Clinton a similar letter to express their concerns about GATT. The NAC asks Clinton to include county and city officials in the "State- Federal Consultation Summit" on GATT that the attorneys general proposed. The letter complains that local government officials were not consulted in the GATT negotiating process. Source: Letter to President Clinton from the National Association of Counties, July 11, 1994. _________________________________________________ CLINTON ALIENATING DEMOCRATS President Clinton is so eager to satisfy Republican interests on GATT that he risks losing Democratic support. Key Democrats have complained to administration officials that they are waiting too long to produce implementing language and that they risk losing Democratic support for the trade pact by courting Republicans. The Clinton administration's funding plan to offset the lost federal revenue under the Uruguay Round is not likely to change that sentiment. WednesdayUs WALL STREET JOURNAL says the taxes and spending cuts, totaling $12 billion, are designed to please congressional Republicans. Removed from the funding plan is a tax on radio and television broadcasters that would have raised $5 billion. Instead, the administration wants to take $3 billion from recipients of food stamps and Social Security by rendering their checks invalid if not cashed in a very limited amount of time. The administration also wants U.S. farmers to pay for GATT by having them swallow $1.7 billion in cuts to agriculture programs. Senate Finance Committee Chair Daniel Moynihan (D-New York), a supporter of GATT, strongly criticized the administration for its delay in submitting a GATT funding proposal and said the Finance Committee would not go ahead with a scheduled markup of implementing legislation if the White House hasnUt offered a concrete funding proposal by then. Sources: Lyndsay Griffiths, "Clinton's GATT Package Faces New Hurdles," REUTER, July 13, 1994; "GATT-Congress," AP, July 13, 1994; _________________________________________________ BUSINESSES CRITICAL OF CLINTON ANTI-DUMPING PROPOSALS At the same time businesses are working with the Clinton administration to promote GATT, a coalition of 50 U.S. companies is lobbying Congress to change the administration's implementing language covering antidumping and countervailing duty laws. The companies say the legislation contains "highly protectionist violations" of the Uruguay Round that foreign governments could use as reason to implement similar policies. Administration officials deny the implementing legislation is unfaithful to the spirit of the Uruguay Round. Source: Nancy Dunne, "US Business Lobbies Over Anti-Dumping," FINANCIAL TIMES, July 14, 1994. _________________________________________________ CONGRESS SEEKS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR TRADE PACTS Members of Congress are hoping to insert in GATT implementing legislation a proposal to increase consideration of the environmental implications in future trade agreements. A proposal introduced by Representatives Gerry Studds (D-Massachusetts), Jolene Unsoeld (D- Washington) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) would require the U.S. Trade Representative to offer an environmental impact assessment before implementing legislation is submitted to Congress. In addition, U.S. environmental agencies would monitor the environmental effects of free trade agreements. Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), who chairs the Finance trade subcommittee, plans to offer similar legislation in the Senate. Source: "...As Studds, Others Back Greater Role for Environment," CONGRESSDAILY, July 13, 1994. _________________________________________________ ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MAKES ECO-LABELLING TOP PRIORITY The newly formed GATT committee on trade and environment has made eco-labelling and the use of trade measures for environmental purposes its top priorities. The committee will consider the compatibility with GATT laws of environmental charges and taxes, such as carbon taxes and packaging, labelling and recycling. The committee will also consider this year whether GATT rules need amending to comply with the trade provisions of international environmental agreements. Controversial issues, such as the "internalization" of environmental costs in prices will be left off this year's agenda. The topics considered are designed to maximize consensus between developing and industrialized nations. Source: Frances Williams, "Eco-Labelling Tops Agenda for New Group," FINANCIAL TIMES, July 13, 1994. _________________________________________________ GENEVA, BONN BATTLE FOR WTO SITE The battle between Geneva and Bonn to become the home of the World Trade Organization is intensifying. While Geneva, the current home of GATT, is still expected to house the WTO, Bonn has combined a financially attractive offer with intense diplomatic lobbying to emerge as a real contender. Bonn's efforts forced Geneva to upgrade its offer so that now both cities are offering millions of dollars to host the WTO and its approximately 500 employees. Swiss officials have accused Germany of a "lack of fair play" in their lobbying efforts. Meanwhile, the WTO is having problems of its own. The Madrid- based World Tourism Organization says the new trade body is using its acronym and ignoring the spirit of the Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement that it will have to enforce. The agreement prohibits private companies from using the acronym, flag or logo of an international body. Sources: Philippe Naughton, "Swiss Attack Germans Over Rival Bid for WTO," REUTER, July 13, 1994; Frances Williams, "Geneva Faces Bonn Rivalry on WTO Site," FINANCIAL TIMES, July 13, 1994; "WTO Protests Creation of New WTO," July 12, 1994. _________________________________________________ RESOURCES _________________________________________________ For copies of the following, please contact the organization or authors listed: "GATT and India: The Politics of Agriculture," Devinder Sharma, KONARK PUBLISHERS, 1994. 198 pages. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, 1313 Fifth Street S.E., Suite 303, Minneapolis, MN 55414-1546. (612) 379-5980. Fax: (612) 379-5982. $19. "The system of self-sufficiency which has been built up assiduously over the course of years by our farm scientists and workers will stand dismantled as a result of GATT's dictates." "Pricing the European Environment," ed. Stale Navrud, SCANDINAVIAN UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1992. 288 pages. Oxford University Press, Inc. Business Office, 2001 Evans Road, Cary, NC 27513. (800) 445-9714. Fax: (919) 677-1303. $59. Fourteen essays on how the environment is evaluated economically in Europe, Australia and Israel, and how such evaluations are used in government decision making. "Greening the GATT," Daniel Esty, INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, July 1994. 317 pages. IIE, 11 Dupont Circle, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-1207. (202) 328-9000. Fax: (202) 328- 5432. $19.95. The Environmental Protection Agency's chief NAFTA negotiator argues that a Global Environmental Organization would decrease conflicts between free trade and environmental protection. "The Squandered Dividend: The Free Market and the Environment in Eastern Europe," Roger Manser, EARTHSCAN PUBLICATIONS, 1993. 195 pages. Earthscan, 120 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JN. 44-71- 278-0433. Fax: 44-71- 278-1142. #11.95 plus shipping and handling. "The political dividend offered by a free market has been squandered by governments more committed to reaping the short- term benefits of rapid privatisation than to building an ecologically sustainable economy." "Trade-related investment measures Q South Africa and the GATT," Gary Eisenberg and Shirley Robinson, TRADE MONITOR, No. 6, June 1994. 4 pages. Trade Policy Monitoring Project DPRU, School of Economics, University of Cape Town, Private Bag Rondebusch, 7700 South Africa. Quarterly. 36 Rand (airmail rates on enquiry). _________________________________________________ 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: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________
