[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 131 (Monday, September 19, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                E X T E N S I O N   O F   R E M A R K S


                        TRADE FOR THE CARIBBEAN

                                 ______


                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 19, 1994

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 
support of the Caribbean Interim Trade Program [ITP], which has been 
proposed by President Bill Clinton as a part of the GATT implementing 
legislation.
  Throughout the past few years, our economic relationship with the 
countries of the Caribbean basin has been a successful one. Largely due 
to the Caribbean Basin Initiative, which was approved by Congress in 
1983, the trade relationship between the United States and the 
Caribbean has more than doubled in the past 10 years and now equals 
close to $22 billion every year. Trade with the Caribbean basin has 
generated about 16,000 new export-related jobs during each year. What 
was once a U.S. trade deficit is now a trade surplus for this Nation of 
about $2.0 billion.
  A good portion of this gain has come in the textile and apparel 
industries. To maintain a globally competitive product and to offset 
the advantages of low-wage Asian competitors, many U.S. firms have 
formed strategic alliances with garment firms throughout the Caribbean. 
Utilizing a combination of U.S. and Caribbean skills and materials, 
American and Caribbean firms have developed a joint-production process 
that guarantees the viability of our domestic industry while ensuring 
the production of quality, cost-competitive garments.
  Unfortunately, this network of alliances faces erosion from several 
fronts. Under the North American Free-Trade Agreement, Mexican apparel 
producers are able to compete in the United States market at an 
advantage over their Caribbean counterparts. In addition, GATT's phase 
out of the worldwide system of textile quotas over the next 10 years 
will eliminate the principal barriers to cheap garment imports from the 
Far East. If the Caribbean exports to the United States are unable to 
compete because of these developments, the U.S.-Caribbean trade 
relationship, including the thousands of U.S. jobs that depend on it, 
could be permanently damaged.
  In order to protect this beneficial relationship, President Clinton 
has included the Caribbean interim trade program in the GATT 
implementing bill. The ITP will ensure that Caribbean nations are not 
forced to compete at a disadavantage with Mexico. In exchange, 
Caribbean countries must take steps to provide U.S. exporters with 
greater access to their own markets and to provide basic guarantees for 
U.S. investors and intellectual property rights holders. This 
combination of trade liberalization and investment guarantees should 
further expand U.S.-Caribbean trade while giving the Caribbean nations 
the access they need to prepare for greater competition from the Far 
East.
  Clearly, the United States has a strong interest in ensuring the 
security and stability of our allies in the Caribbean. As we are 
constantly reminded, regional instability not only undermines the 
democratic processes that this nation tries to foster, but it also has 
a profound impact upon immigration and economic development. The ITP, 
through the creation of economic linkage with the United States, can 
help secure Caribbean stability.
  The ITP must be enacted this year, as a part of the GATT implementing 
legislation. Our failure to do so would not only signal our lack of 
commitment to the region, but would also undercut other efforts to 
promote strong U.S. export performance abroad.
  For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote to retain the ITP in 
the GATT legislation.

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