From: harelb@MATH.CORNELL.EDU (Harel Barzilai)
Newsgroups: alt.activism,misc.headlines,talk.politics.misc
Subject: TRADE NEWS 8/18
Date: 20 Aug 92 03:52:00 GMT
Organization: misc.activism.progressive on UseNet ; ACTIV-L@UMCVMB


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Topic 145       TRADE.NEWS 8-18-92 
kmander Updates on GATT & NAFTA Negotiations    12:26 pm  Aug 18, 1992 
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TRADE NEWS BULLETIN 
Tuesday, August 18, 1992 
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NAFTA News Summary 
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MEXICO GRANTS GREATER ACCESS TO OIL 

The Mexican government will allow greater foreign and  
domestic private investment in 14 petrochemicals as part of the  
North American Free Trade Agreement.  Energy was one of the  
most contentious issues in the negotiations, in part because of  
Mexico's constitutional ban on foreign ownership of oil.  In the  
past five years, Mexico has reduced the number of basic  
petrochemicals reserved for state production from 70 to the  
current list of only eight. 

U.S. oil companies are still disappointed, however, that Mexico's  
state-owned PEMEX oil company retains the right to make 50  
percent of its equipment purchases through Mexican companies  
for the next eight years.  In a statement, Dale Jones, chairman of  
the U.S. Petroleum Suppliers Association, said U.S. oil service  
companies will benefit in the long run from NAFTA, but the  
help could come too late to save many companies in the  
struggling industry.  Jones said the accord prevents full access  
to the Mexican market for 10 years. 

Source: "Mexico Is Easing Rules On Making Petrochemicals,"  
WALL STREET JOURNAL, August 18, 1992, p. A11; "NAFTA  
Benefits Could Be Too Late For U.S. Oil Firms," REUTER, August  
17, 1992. 
_________________________________________________________ 
ARTICLE DESCRIBES WIDE RANGE OF NAFTA OPPONENTS 

An article in Saturday's NEW YORK TIMES states that although a  
wide range of groups are in opposition to NAFTA, these groups  
"have yet to coalesce ... and form any unified plan of attack."   

Mark A. Anderson, director of the AFL-CIO's task force on trade,  
said NAFTA opponents, which range from environmental and  
labor groups to farmer and religious groups, have different  
perspectives but "all share a common concern that the  
implementation of this agreement is not going to be beneficial."   
Kevin L. Kearns of the Economic Strategy Institute expects that  
once the agreement is released, a "grand-scale coalition" of the  
groups will begin forming.  In the article,  Lori M. Wallach of the  
Citizen Trade Watch Campaign, a coalition of 60 environment,  
labor and farm groups that monitor trade, says "there will be a  
lot of activity" to fight NAFTA. 

Source: Jonathan P. Hicks, "Pact's Opponents Cover Wide Range  
of Interests," NEW YORK TIMES, August 15, 1992, p. 20. 
_________________________________________________________ 
GATT News Summary 
_________________________________________________________ 
U.S. COULD IMPOSE TARIFFS ON EC IMPORTS SOON 

The 60-day period for compensation talks between the U.S. and  
EC expired today without a conclusion to the oilseeds subsidy  
dispute.  The U.S. had threatened to release a list of EC imports  
that face prohibitive tariffs if an agreement was not reached by  
today, and the U.S. may follow through with the threat in the  
next few days.  The EC made a number of offers but the U.S.  
rejected them all as insufficient and inadequate for U.S. oilseeds  
producers.   

U.S. farm organizations and some members of Congress are  
urging President George Bush to impose the duties.  Nancy  
Foster of the American Soybean Association, which initiated the  
complaint, said, "We are recommending that the administration  
show a strong signal of resolve on this issue."  However, U.S.  
importers, who will be hurt by the tariffs, are lobbying to keep  
their products off the list.  

Speaking at the Republican Convention in Houston, U.S. Trade  
Representative Carla Hills said the Bush Administration is  
prepared to finish the Uruguay Round of GATT despite some  
Republican concerns that the deal would hurt Bush's chances of  
re-election.  Hills said a European "willingness to deal with  
agricultural issues" is the key to the Round, and that movement  
in the talks could occur after France votes on tighter European  
unity September 20. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. and EC have reached a tentative "cease-fire  
agreement" over U.S. exports of corn gluten feed after more  
than two years of disputes and tariffs.  The compromise calls for  
the EC to refund about $2 million in punitive duties collected on  
U.S. corn gluten exports since January 1.  The Netherlands and  
Ireland had imposed the duties, claiming the feed was not pure  
corn gluten.  Under the compromise, the two sides will give  
themselves until October 31 to agree on procedures to inspect  
the feed content.  The dispute is outside of GATT but could still  
affect the outcome of GATT negotiations. 

Source: Nancy Dunne, "Bush Under Pressure In Oilseeds Row,"  
FINANCIAL TIMES, August 18, 1992, p. 3; Rich Miller, "U.S.  
Ready to Strike GATT Deal Despite Election," REUTER, August 17,  
1992; Patricia Commins, "US, EC Reach 'Cease-Fire' Pact In  
Gluten Dispute," JOURNAL OF COMMERCE, August 17, 1992, p. 1. 
_________________________________________________________ 
Produced by: 
Kai Mander     
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) 
1313 Fifth Street SE, Suite #303 
Minneapolis, MN 55414-1546 USA 

Telephone:(612)379-5980 Fax:(612)379-5982  
E-Mail:kmander@igc.org 
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