AP Fast Track Story

[MDOLAN <mdolan@citizen.org>]

  Clinton looks to boost authority over trade
  
  Battle heating up over safety threats, drug smuggling
  
  August 25, 1997
  
  BY MARTIN CRUTSINGER
  Associated Press
  WASHINGTON -- The "giant sucking sound" may have fallen silent. But other 
  battle cries will replace it this fall as President Bill Clinton and his 
  opponents launch another big fight over trade.
  
  This time, the struggle will be over giving Clinton the negotiating 
  authority he
  needs to expand free trade beyond Mexico to other Latin American countries.
  
  Among the issues opponents will raise: drug smuggling, unsafe trucks and 
  health threats from imported food.
  
  The administration is aiming for a big kickoff event at the White House on 
  Sept. 10. Clinton will be trying to win congressional approval for 
  "fast-track," which grants him the power to negotiate trade deals that 
  Congress must consider
  quickly and cannot amend.
  
  The fight promises to be every bit as bruising as the 1993 battle to win 
  approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
  
  In that contest, H. Ross Perot warned that eliminating trade barriers with 
  Mexico would result in a "giant sucking sound" of U.S. jobs as companies 
  moved factories to Mexico to take advantage of low wages.
  
  The administration branded Perot's accusation a scare tactic and argued 
  instead
  that, by lowering Mexico's barriers to U.S. exports, NAFTA would
  produce thousands of new American jobs.
  
  NAFTA opponents haven't abandoned the jobs issue. But they've added new 
  arguments to their arsenal -- health threats from imported food, dangers 
  from unsafe Mexican trucks, and drug smuggling made easier because of 
  U.S.-Mexico trade.
  
  The food issue gained prominence earlier this year after imported Mexican 
  strawberries were blamed for a hepatitis outbreak among schoolchildren in
  Michigan. Concerns were heightened by last week's announcement that a U.S. 
  meat processing company was recalling 25 million pounds of hamburger due to 
  concerns about E. coli bacteria.
  
  The problem with Hudson Foods Inc.'s frozen beef patties has not been 
  linked to imports. Nevertheless, NAFTA opponents hope to use the headlines 
  to spotlight concerns over the adequacy of inspections for both domestic 
  and imported food.
  
  "Trade agreements are very much tools for deregulation and the result is 
  dangerous trucks on the highway and a lack of border inspections," said 
  Lori
  Wallach, director of Ralph Nader's Citizens Trade Campaign.
  
  "If your job doesn't go to Mexico, then you may not be worried about job 
  loss from NAFTA. But everybody eats."
  
  For its part, the administration also is trying to broaden the upcoming 
  debate by insisting the stakes go far beyond a deal with any single 
  country. Officials stress that Clinton needs new authority not only to 
  expand free trade to
  other LatinAmerican countries, but also to create a free trade area among 
  Pacific Rim countries to lower barriers for American farmers, 
  telecommunications companies and banks.
  
  The effort has been stalled for two years because of disagreement over how 
  to deal with labor and environmental issues.
  
  But U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky suggested recently that a 
  compromise might be in the works along the lines suggested by House trade 
  subcommittee chairman Philip Crane, R-Ill. It would allow language to cover 
  labor and environmental issues if they were "directly trade-related." 
  Meanwhile, union leaders, emboldened by their contend that any future trade 
  deals must have iron-clad guarantees ensuring foreign workers are not 
  exploited.
  
  Unions also want assurances that companies will not be tempted to move 
  factories to other nations to take advantage of lax environmental rules.
  
  "It is all part of the same 'throwaway worker' concept," said Teamsters 
  Union President Ron Carey. "It has got to stop, and stopping fast-track
  will be the kind of thing we need to do."
  ***** NOTES from MDOLAN (MDOLAN @ CITIZEN) at 9/02/97 12:43 PM
  
  
  ****************************************************************************
   /s/ Mike Dolan, Field Director, Global Trade Watch, Public Citizen
  
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