WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/5
9December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5176)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
UNITED STATES
Statement bytheHonourable Charlene Barshefsky
Acting United States Trade Representative
Onbehalf oftheUSdelegation, Iwanttoexpress ourappreciation toPrime Minister Goh,
Minister YeoandtheGovernment ofSingapore, theGeneral Council Chairman, Ambassador Rossier,
andtheDirector-General, Mr.Ruggiero andhisstafffortheirefforts toprepare forthishistoric,
inaugural meeting oftheWorld Trade Organization. Youhavebeengracious beyond measure -and
weareverygrateful.
Nearly 50years ago,theformation oftheGATT launched aperiod oftrade liberalization
unprecedented inworld history. Fewpresent atthatcreation would havepredicted thetremendous
growth inworld trade -increasing 80percentbyvolume inthelastdecade alone -thathasadded
immeasurably totheprosperity oftheworld 'speople. GATT succeeded because wepersisted inthe
goalofeliminating thebarriers thatdenyourpeople thebenefits offreeandfairtrade. Wesawnew
challenges, andweworked together toseize newopportunities.
Asweconvene thefirstMinisterial Meeting oftheWTO, ourcommitment totheongoing work
oftrade liberalization must beequally determined. Wemust prove totheworld thattheWTO isa
vibrant institution laying thefoundations foranewperiod ofglobal prosperity. Likeourpredecessors,
wemust seize newopportunities.
Theglobal economy willnotwaitforus.Technological change isadvancing rapidly -allover
theglobe -intheWest andintheEast. Wesalute theforesight ofPrime Minister Mahathir forhis
vision toestablish theMultimedia Super Corridor planthatwillleadtoaninformation technology city
of100,000 inhabitants aswellasthecreation oftheworld 'sfirstpaperless national government by
theyear2000. TheWorld Bank estimates thattheworld 'seconomies willdemand US$1.5 trillion
incapital overthenextdecade forhighquality infrastructure, advanced information technology and
telecommunications systems.
Wehave anopportunity tomeet these challenges. Ifwecansucceed inthree important
negotiations -information technology, basic telecommunications services andfinancial services -we
canbuild theinfrastructure foramore interconnected global economy ofthe21stcentury.
Thefirstofthese, theInformation Technology Agreement, would bethefirstconcrete
demonstration oftheWTO 'sability tomove forward inconcert withthechanging world around us.
Bycreating atariff-free environment fortradeininformation technology products, wecanhelplower
consumer costs, make ourbusinesses more competitive andgiveourentire economies thebenefits that
flowfrom access togreater information.
Thebiggest benefit maybetooureconomies more broadly. These products increasingly are
usedinvirtually every major industry sector. Thelargest users ofsemiconductors worldwide areautoWT/MIN(96)/ST/5
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makers. Computers andcomputer driven-machines increasingly areessential fortextiles, apparel and
steelmanufacturing. Andweallknow thevitalroleamodern telecommunications system plays in
thegrowth ofoureconomies.
Thatiswhywemustreach anagreement thisweek. Remaining issues areripefordecision.
Wehaveanhistoric opportunity toeliminate tariffs onthese products. Wemust seize it.
Oursecond challenge istoproceed expeditiously toconclude thebasic telecommunications
negotiations by15February 1997. Investors increasingly seekpredictability intelecommunications
aspartofawell-functioning international tradeandinvestment regime. Telecom isastrategic industry
andagenerator ofeconomic growth andemployment. Ifwearesuccessful intheWTO, basictelecom
liberalization willspurinvestment andtheuseofnewtechnologies inwider geographic andproduct
areas.
TheUnited States andEurope haverecently announced improvements totheoffers tabled in
thebasic telecom negotiations, andweurgeothers tomatch ouroffers. Thisiscertainly ourhope
andexpectation. Withsuchashort amount oftimeafterthisMinisterial toconclude thisnegotiation,
wehopeallWTO Members willcontribute meaningfully toanagreement thatprovides market access
andinvestment opportunities inthe21stcentury.
Butletmebeclear. Today, theUnited States accounts fornearly 50percentofalltelecom
revenue worldwide. Wecannot, andwewillnot,settle forasituation where weareunable tooperate
intheother halfoftheworld 'smarkets. Weareready toleadbymaking thefirstbestoffer, but
wecannot succeed unless others come forward onamutual basis.
Thisleads metothethirdsetofcritical negotiations -financial services. Forourpart,we
arecommitted toachieving acomprehensive andmeaningful agreement bytheendofnextyear. Our
firsttryatthenegotiations didnotsucceed. Why? Because thecommitments ofkeycountries were
farbelow whatwasnecessary toachieve atrulyliberalizing agreement. Infact,some countries would
notevenobligate themselves totheirexisting levels ofliberalization. Tosuccessfully conclude these
talks, itiscritical thatWTO Members significantly improve theircommitments based ontheGATS
principles ofmarket access, national treatment andMFN.
Weareconvinced thatanagreement ispossible. Wecanandshould lookmore carefully at
phase-in commitments, where appropriate, sothere areassurances thatafterareasonable period our
financial services providers willenjoy substantially fullmarket access andnational treatment inkey
markets. Thebenefits ofbinding openregimes inthissector should beclear: toachieve increased
access tointernational capital andstronger "infrastructure" forcontinued investment andeconomic
growth.
Ifwecansucceed intheITA, thebasic telecom negotiations, andintheupcoming financial
services negotiations, wewillhavetaken amajor steptoward building thekindofglobal economy
thatwillbenefit allofourcitizens.
Ofcourse, ourvision fortheWTO extends beyond these three negotiations. IftheWTO is
tostayrelevant andresponsive tonewcommercial realities, wemustlookahead andcreate moremarket
access opportunities, and,when necessary, create newrules.
Work mustcontinue inmany areas. Those whoalready havebenefited fromtheglobal trading
system mustfindnewways forthose lessadvantaged toreapthesystem 'sbenefits. Wemustcontinue
thereform effort called forintheWTO Agreement onAgriculture. Inaddition toencouraging further
cutsintariffs andsubsidies, theWTO should develop disciplines against disguised subsidies andnon-WT/MIN(96)/ST/5
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traditional forms ofprotection, suchasthetrade-restraining andnon-transparent activities ofstatetrading
enterprises. TheTRIPS Agreement should befullyimplemented asrapidly aspossible andexisting
obligations should bemetnow. Wealsomust continue efforts toensure thattheWTO isopenand
transparent. Opening thisMinisterial tooutside observers isagood stepforward. Wewilladdress
these andother issues more fullyintheworking sessions.
Public confidence intheintegrity ofgovernment procurement decisions would beenhanced
ifallWTO countries agreed tobasic standards oftransparency anddueprocess. Webelieve thisis
thetimetotakethefirststeptoward aWTO agreement ontransparency ingovernment procurement.
TheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment mustcontinue itswork, recognizing thecontribution
thatcanbemade tosustainable development when tradeliberalization complements appropriate national
environmental policies. Itiscritical totheWTO 'scredibility thattheCommittee takeamore balanced
approach todealing withtradeandtheenvironment, taking bothpolicy perspectives fullyintoaccount.
Fulfilling themandate forsustainable development which resulted fromtheRioSummit demands more
fromtheWTO thansimply acommittee. Thepursuit ofsustainable growth anddevelopment should
beacommon thread woven throughout allthework ofthisOrganization.
Withregard tobroadening theWTO 'sagenda, weareprepared toconsider whether theWTO
should begin careful examination ofnewissues some feelshould bedebated. Likeothers, weare
concerned about finding therightbalance ofinterests. Thatiswhywehavebeenwilling togoalong
withothers whowishtobegin amodest work programme intheareas ofinvestment andcompetition,
aspartofabalanced overall agenda fortheWTO.
Toremain viable, theWTO mustreflect theneeds ofvarious constituencies involved inworld
trade. Each ofoureconomies willbefacing more pressure from globalization inthecoming years,
andwemust helpworkers adjust toandbenefit from anopentrading system. Wemust domore to
acknowledge thatthereisamutually reinforcing relationship between anopentrading system andrespect
forcorelabour standards.
Thatiswhywehope tohaveanagreement thattheWTO should, incooperation withthe
International Labour Organization, examine ingreater detail theimportant nexus between trade and
labour standards. Webelieve strongly thatincreased tradeandtheeconomic growth thatitbrings should
alsoengender greater respect forthebasichuman rights which arethefocus ofourcorelabour standards
proposal.
Wearenotproposing anagreement onminimum wages, changes thatcould takeaway the
comparative advantage oflow-wage producers, ortheuseofprotectionist measures toenforce labour
standards. Weareproposing thattheconcerns ofworking people -people whofearthattrade
liberalization willleadtodistortion -beaddressed inamodest work programme intheWTO. Trade
liberalization canoccur onlywithdomestic support; thatsupport, andsupport fortheWTO, willsurely
erode ifwecannot address theconcerns ofworking people anddemonstrate thattradeisapathtotangible
prosperity.
Wedonotlackchallenges aswelookahead, butIamhighly optimistic. Thisweek wecan
sendastrong message thattheWTO isready tomove forward withwillanddetermination, tobecome
thestrong, vibrant, andpragmatic institution weallwant ittobe.With much hardwork, wecan
continue thehistoric tradition oftrade liberalization towhich wearededicated.