From: Andrew Lang <lang@igc.apc.org>
Subject: TRADE.NEWS 11-23-92
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1992 04:54:52 GMT

/* Written  1:26 pm  Nov 23, 1992 by kmander@igc.apc.org in igc:trade.news */
/* ---------- "TRADE.NEWS 11-23-92" ---------- */

TRADE NEWS BULLETIN	Volume I Number 200
Monday, November 23, 1992
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GATT News Summary
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FRANCE CALLS US-EC FARM DEAL "UNACCEPTABLE"

France has not given its endorsement to the recently announced EC-
US agriculture agreement and has asked for an emergency meeting 
of European Community foreign and agriculture ministers to discuss 
the deal.  Agriculture Minister Jean-Pierre Soisson said on Monday 
that France would probably seek the meeting next week, once the 
executive European Commission has discussed the deal on oilseeds 
and farm trade on Wednesday.  

Soisson called the EC-US deal "unacceptable" in two areas.  He 
objected to the stipulation that 21 percent cuts in subsidized exports 
be applied on a product-by-product basis instead of an aggregate 
one.  Soisson also criticized the treaty's production limits for oilseeds 
used for industrial purposes.

Soisson said trade issues will be discussed in a Franco-German 
summit December 3-4, and at the EC summit in Edinburgh December 
11.  He predicted the Uruguay Round would not be concluded until 
next spring, after U.S. President-elect Bill Clinton assumes office.  

Prime Minister Pierre Beregovoy said France would seek backing 
from other EC nations in its opposition to the agriculture deal.  
Beregovoy urged the governments yesterday to understand France's 
position and to remember that France has backed their causes in the 
past.  Beregovoy said France would consider using an obscure EC law 
to veto the agreement if it has no alternative. "If at the very end, 
there is no other possibility than for France to refuse, then France 
will naturally refuse because we consider the fundamental interests 
of (our) agricultural economy are at stake," Beregovoy said.

Source: Paul Taylor, "France Seeks Emergency EC Farm Deal Talks," 
REUTER, November 23, 1992; "Clinton, Not Bush, Will Finish GATT 
Talks-Soisson," REUTER, November 23, 1992; Keith Bradsher, "The 
Breakthrough Was the Result of a Gamble and A Last Minute Idea," 
NEW YORK TIMES, November 23, 1929, p. C3; Alan Riding, "France 
Asks Other Nations to Rally Around Its Position," NEW YORK TIMES, 
November 23, 1992, p. C3.
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EC-US FARM DEAL WILL NOT LEAD TO QUICK GATT FINISH

While the recent EC-US agriculture deal has increased the prospects 
for completing the Uruguay Round of GATT, a number of other 
stumbling blocks must be overcome before a global deal can be 
completed.  

Even if France does not block the agriculture accord, several other 
nations -- Japan and South Korea in particular -- must make changes 
in their agriculture policies before the agriculture section of GATT is 
completed.  Under the proposed GATT deal, all nations would be 
required to partially open their markets to imports.  Japanese Prime 
Minister Kiichi Miyazawa has repeatedly said that Japan will refuse 
to end its ban on rice imports.  The U.S. rice industry wants the U.S. 
to push Japan to accept twice the amount contained in the proposal.

Even when the agriculture chapter is finished, other contentious 
areas, such as telecommunications, financial services, maritime 
services, government procurement contracts and intellectual 
property rights, remain for negotiators to resolve.  Since the EC-US 
agriculture deal was announced, other GATT member nations have 
made it clear that they will not be hastily shepherded into 
concluding the deal.  "Just because the U.S. and the Community have 
blown a whistle overnight in Washington doesn't mean that everyone 
will troop in the next day and sign an agreement," said B.K. Zutshi, 
India's ambassador to GATT.

Economists have long noted how slowly GATT talks move.  Gary 
Hufbauer, a trade economist at the Institute for International 
Economics, said the negotiations have been "frozen in a glacier" while 
the EC and U.S. argued over farm subsidies.  Jagdish Bhagwati, a 
Columbia University economist and senior adviser to GATT, predicted 
a GATT deal would be completed within months, but that it will not 
be as far-reaching as predicted when the talks began over six years 
ago.

Source: Bob Davis, "Tough Trade Issues Remain as EC, U.S. Agree on 
Agriculture," WALL STREET JOURNAL, November 23, 1992, p. 1; Peter 
Passell, "Although Trade Is Trickier, 'More Is Better' Is Still True," 
NEW YORK TIMES, November 23, 1992, p. 1.
_________________________________________________________
FARMERS NOT HAPPY WITH DEAL

French farmers expressed outrage over the completed agriculture 
deal and began planning for a large protest Wednesday.  Meanwhile, 
Britain's National Farmers Union (NFU) said farmers would benefit 
from the general economic implications of a world trade deal but 
they also feared it could lead to further pressure on farming 
businesses.  "It is too soon to quantify any pressure, but we will take 
up with agricultural institutions all the issues farmers will have to 
face as a result of the implementation of this agreement," an NFU 
spokesman said.

U.S. farmers were generally happy to have avoided a costly trade 
war, but soybean farmers were angry that negotiators agreed to let 
the EC set aside some of its land from oilseed production instead of 
agreeing to firm production limits.  They fear the European farmers 
could boost the yield on the land they can use.  "We're glad we 
averted a trade war," said Clay Pederson, of the National Farmers' 
Union, which represents 250,000 farmers.  "But we conceded an 
awful lot."

Source: "Brussels Hopeful Over Trade Deal," FINANCIAL TIMES, 
November 23, 1992, p. 1; "British farmers remain watchful after 
GATT news," REUTER, November 20, 1992; Scott Kilman, "U.S. Farmers 
Get Modest Shot in the Arm From Subsidy Compromise with the EC," 
WALL STREET JOURNAL, November 23, 1992, p. A4. 
_________________________________________________________
NAFTA News Summary
_________________________________________________________
ANALYSTS: NAFTA WILL CUT ASEAN EXPORTS BY $2 BILLION

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can expect a loss of 
at least $2 billion in export earnings when the North American Free 
Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect, analysts said.  

Malaysia is expected to take the biggest loss, as its sales of clothing 
and semi-conductor products to the United States decreases.  But 
Mexico's ambassador to Malaysia, Jorge Dominguez, said NAFTA was 
not intended to create new trade barriers.  "NAFTA is to be regarded 
as a major contribution to vigorously expand global trade, 
investment opportunities and employment generation," Dominguez 
told a conference on global trade and finance in Kuala Lumpur.

Investment analyst Patrick Lim told reporters that losses could be 
offset by increased trade and investment between ASEAN and the 
Far East, especially China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Source: K.T. Arasu, "NAFTA Seen Cutting ASEAN Exports By $2 
Billion," REUTER, November 23, 1992.
_________________________________________________________
Other On-line Conferences:

trade.strategy - a discussion of trade issues
trade.library - a repository of trade information
eai.news - a news summary of Latin American trade topics
susag.news - a news summary of sustainable agriculture issues

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
_________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive