From: harelb@math.cornell.edu (misc.activism.progressive co-moderator)
Subject: TRADE NEWS 9/29: A.I.D. PROGRAMS ENCOURAGE EXPORT OF US JOBS
Organization: misc.activism.progressive on UseNet ; ACTIV-L@UMCVMB
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 04:01:15 GMT

    "American workers, as taxpayers, are helping to pay to export
    their own jobs," Sheinkman argues.  "At the same time that the
    government has been promoting and financing offshore production,
    the U.S. has lost 2.6 million manufacturing jobs."
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    One advertisement, which was partly paid for with AID funds, was
    printed in a textile industry trade journal.  It shows a
    Salvadoran woman bent over an industrial sewing machine with the
    caption: "Rosa Martinez produces apparel for U.S. markets on her
    sewing machine in El Salvador ... You can hire her for 33 cents an
    hour."
[This Ad was reproduced in Z magazine,btw --HB]
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   Australia will probably lodge a complaint against President Bush's
   announcement of a $1 billion increase in U.S. wheat subsidies [...]
   Bush's move was widely viewed as an effort to shore up
   election-year support from farmers, but Administration officials
   now concede the $1 billion worth of subsidies will be more than
   offset by reductions in domestic programs designed to help farmers.
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Topic 167       TRADE.NEWS 9-29-92 
kmander Updates on GATT & NAFTA Negotiations     2:39 pm  Sep 29, 1992 
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TRADE NEWS BULLETIN 
Tuesday, September 29, 1992 
_________________________________________________________ 
NOTES: 

The scheduled topic of ABC's NIGHTLINE television program Tuesday  
night and Wednesday night is trade.  Vice-Presidential candidate Al  
Gore and U.S. Labor Secretary Lynn Martin will appear on  
Wednesday's program.  Since Sunday's 60 MINUTES story about the  
U.S. Agency for International Development's practice of promoting  
the export of jobs from the U.S. to Central America (see story below),  
the issue has been a hot topic.  Presidential candidate Bill Clinton has  
been using it in his campaign speeches and a series of press  
conferences are scheduled by fair trade advocates to raise awareness  
to the potential consequences of NAFTA. 
__________________________________________________________ 
NAFTA News Summary 
_________________________________________________________ 
A.I.D. PROGRAMS ENCOURAGE EXPORT OF US JOBS 

Sunday's 60 MINUTES television program and Monday's LOS  
ANGELES TIMES reported on U.S. Agency for International  
Development's (AID) efforts to encourage U.S. companies to set up  
factories in Central America.  AID, which administers U.S. economic  
aid programs in developing countries, has implemented some large- 
scale government programs to promote private enterprise in Central  
America.  AID does this, George Bush argued in 1982, "to maintain a  
foreign investment in the Caribbean region, not merely to protect the  
existing U.S. investment there, but to encourage new investment  
opportunities in stable, democratic, free-market-oriented countries  
close to our shores."  

Labor unions contend the policy is harming an already shaken U.S.  
workforce and that AID is violating congressional instructions to  
avoid promoting the export of jobs from the United States.  One  
advertisement, which was partly paid for with AID funds, was  
printed in a textile industry trade journal.  It shows a Salvadoran  
woman bent over an industrial sewing machine with the caption:  
"Rosa Martinez produces apparel for U.S. markets on her sewing  
machine in El Salvador ... You can hire her for 33 cents an hour." AID  
officials defend their policies, arguing that low-wage jobs are moving  
overseas anyway and that their programs are merely helping Central  
American countries gain some of the business over Hong Kong,  
Taiwan and South Korea.

    [Their generosity towards "Central America [rather than] Hong
    Kong" out of the kindness of their hearts has nothign to do with
    the corporate interests in question, of course --HB]


Jack Sheinkman, president of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile  
Workers Union, disagrees.  "American workers, as taxpayers, are  
helping to pay to export their own jobs," Sheinkman argues.  "At the  
same time that the government has been promoting and financing  
offshore production, the U.S. has lost 2.6 millon manufacturing jobs." 

Many U.S. officials and labor representatives believe the North  
American Free Trade Agreement will only continue this process by  
allowing Mexico to promote itself as a manufacturing center for U.S.  
business.  "This is a harbinger of what will happen with NAFTA if we  
don't bring it under control,' a senior State Department official said. 

Source: Doyle McManus, "U.S. Aid Agency Helps to Move Jobs  
Overseas," LA TIMES, September 29, 1992. 
___________________________________________________________ 
GATT News Summary 

GATT MEETING TODAY - OILSEEDS DISPUTE TO BE DISCUSSED 

The EC-US dispute over agriculture subsidies will be a priority topic  
at today's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) general  
council meeting in Geneva.  European Commission officials say the  
level of U.S. interest in completing the Uruguay Round of GATT will  
determine whether talks resume at the senior level.   

The United States and European Community agreed at the beginning  
of this month to seek a resolution to the dispute by today's meeting,  
delaying the implementation by the U.S. of punitive tariffs on US$1  
billion worth of EC exports.  Whether the U.S will follow through with  
the threats if a resolution is not reached today is unclear.  The U.S. is,  
however, expected to request the formation of an arbitration panel to  
rule on compensation the European Community should pay to  
countries that have lost exports because of EC subsidies on oilseeds.   
The U.S. has calculated the losses at $2 billion, but the EC has offered  
compensation of no more than $400 million. 

Australia will probably lodge a complaint against President Bush's  
announcement of a $1 billion increase in U.S. wheat subsidies.   
Australia and other wheat producing nations have said the increase  
undermines the Uruguay Round.  Bush's move was widely viewed as  
an effort to shore up election-year support from farmers, but  
Administration officials now concede the $1 billion worth of  
subsidies will be more than offset by reductions in domestic  
programs designed to help farmers. 

Source: David Gardner, Frances Williams, "World Trade Deal Hangs on  
Oilseeds Row," FINANCIAL TIMES, September 29, 1992, p. 7; "GATT's  
Farm Dispute Likely to Heat Up Today," AP, September 29, 1992;  
Keith Bradsher, "No Added Money in Farm Aid Plan," NEW YORK  
TIMES, September 6, 1992, p. 1. 
_________________________________________________________ 
Resources: 

1.  MEXICO: FOR SALE is a documentary video dealing with the  
Mexican perspective on free trade.  The producers say the film was  
created to provoke a deeper analysis of free trade and to document  
the opposition to NAFTA from significant voices within the Mexican  
political parties.  To obtain a copy, send US$ 39.95 (plus 2.50 for  
postage and handling) to Mexico Libre Productions, PO Box 20018,  
Altadena, CA 91001.  Tel: (818) 798-7749.  Allow two weeks for  
delivery.  Available in English and Spanish in VHS format. 
_________________________________________________________ 
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 
_________________________________________________________