UPI Fast Track Story

[MDOLAN <mdolan@citizen.org>]

  Mentions Lori Wallach (Dir, Global Trade Watch) in 7th graph
  
  *************************************
  Clinton prepares for fast-track battle
  
  By JORGE A. BANALES
  
  WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (UPI) _ The Clinton Administration is preparing to ask 
  Congress for so-called fast-track authority to negotiate new international 
  trade
  agreements, portending a battle in which unions, environmentalists and 
  conservatives might form alliance.
  
  President Clinton is expected to send by Sept. 10 his proposal, defining 
  his power to negotiate new NAFTA-type trade deals.
  
  On July 11, the Clinton administration said the 1993 North American Free 
  Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico had led to ``a modest positive 
  effect'' on the
  U.S. economy.
  
  The evaluation was crucial for President Clinton's long-delayed aim to win 
  from Congress the authority to negotiate new trade pacts to expand NAFTA. 
  Chile is the
  first candidate for accession to NAFTA, invited to open talks at the 1994 
  Summit of the Americas.
  
  In his first year as president, Clinton was a strong promoter of NAFTA, a 
  deal initiated under his predecessor George Bush. He was supported by big 
  business
  groups and depended heavily on the votes from Republicans to have the pact 
  approved in Congress.
  
  The modest gains the Clinton administration can show for the 
  heatedly-debated NAFTA deal, are assailed by criticism from unions, 
  environmental and human rights
  groups.
  
  Lori Wallach, director of the global Trade Watch program at the 
  Washington-based Public Citizen group says: ``In three and a half years, 
  NAFTA has turned a
  modest U.S. trade surplus with Mexico crashing into an historical new 
  deficit of more than $16 billion.''
  
  Environmentalists have decried the poor record of toxic waste management in 
  Mexico and alleged increases in pullution along the U.S.- Mexican border, 
  while
  human rights activists have denounced the growth of sweat-shop industries 
  both in Mexico and in the United States, as cheap labor becomes crucial to 
  succeed in a
  ``free market'' global economy.
  
  _-
  
  Copyright 1997 by United Press International.
  ***** NOTES from MDOLAN (MDOLAN @ CITIZEN) at 9/01/97 3:48 PM