[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 8 (Friday, January 13, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E96-E97]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                            ABELARDO VALDEZ

                                 ______


                          HON. BILL RICHARDSON

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 13, 1995
  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw my colleagues 
attention to an opinion piece that appeared in the Washington Times on 
December 9, 1994. In his discussion, Ambassador Abelardo Valdez brings 
to light the importance of hemispheric free trade. The Ambassador 
rightly points out that NAFTA was the first installment toward a united 
Western Hemisphere. In fact, Ambassador Valdez 
[[Page E97]] has long been at the fore on matters of hemispheric trade. 
I remember discussing a Western hemisphere free trade area with 
Ambassador Valdez 15 years ago. In matters of trade in the Western 
Hemisphere, Ambassador Valdez is nothing short of visionary. I urge my 
colleagues to take interest in the following article.
               [From the Washington Times, Dec. 9, 1994]

                            Abelardo Valdez

       Twenty seven years ago, as a young military aide, I 
     accompanied Lyndon Johnson to the first summit of the 
     presidents of the Americas at Punte del Este, Uruguay. That 
     summit's primary goal was to support the beginning of trade 
     liberalization among the Latin American countries. The second 
     summit of the Americas begins in Miami today, with the 
     primary goals of expanded free trade, strengthening democracy 
     and advancing economic and social development throughout the 
     Western hemisphere.
       In the quarter-century between these two historic events, 
     our hemispheric neighborhood and the world have changed 
     dramatically, and the small seed planted at Punta del Este is 
     blossoming into a hemispheric free trade area, and, I 
     predict, into a future Common Market of the Americas. The 
     North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has set the 
     stage.
       The Miami Summit is a critical step in creating a Western 
     Hemisphere Free Trade Area (WHFTA). The U.S., Canadian and 
     Latin American governments realize that this summit is not 
     only a historic but a watershed event for expanding 
     hemispheric free trade.
       the role of the United States will be pivotal, and the U.S. 
     Congress is clearly divided on whether to grant the president 
     the indispensable ``fast track'' trade negotiating authority.
       It behooves us then to state why the United States, in 
     partnership with Canada and Latin America, should pursue this 
     ambitious goal of creating a WHFTA within the next decade. 
     The NAFTA experience teaches us never to take for granted 
     that a good idea will automatically pass Congress or that 
     people beyond the Capital Beltway are properly informed about 
     the issue.
       So, first let us examine both the potential U.S. benefits 
     of hemispheric free trade and why a trade partnership with 
     Latin America now is feasible.
       Latin America is undergoing dramatic economic policy 
     transformation. The International Monetary Fund predicts 
     higher economic growth for the region than any other over the 
     next decade--about 6 percent per year. These changes, ongoing 
     for several years, have included privatizing economies and 
     opening markets to foreign trade and investment. Latin 
     leaders are eager to maximize economic benefits, such as 
     through increased competitiveness and investment, through a 
     hemispheric free trade pact.
       Moreover, Latin American countries have greatly expanded 
     democracy over this same period. Latin leaders perceive that 
     increased economic growth and opportunity is the best 
     catalyst for social progress and the best way to strengthen 
     democracy.
       Today, the United States accounts for about 60 percent of 
     the total goods imported by Latin America and the Caribbean, 
     a region with a growing population of 460 million. In 1993, 
     there was $141 billion in trade between the United States and 
     Latin America.
       By the end of the '90s, the Western Hemisphere is expected 
     to account for nearly $200 billion in U.S. exports--
     considerably more than the United States sells to all Europe 
     plus Russia and more than it exports to Eastern and Southern 
     Asia combined. Already, 37 percent of U.S. exports go to 
     Western Hemisphere nations. The U.S. sells as much to Brazil 
     as to China, more to Venezuela than to Russia, and more to 
     Ecuador than Hungary and Poland combined. Our exports to 
     Latin America are growing at 3 times the global rate.
       By next year, the Andean Pact countries are expected to set 
     a common external tariff no greater than 20 percent. As a 
     result, they will become one of our 12 largest markets, 
     accounting for $10 billion in U.S. exports. The United States 
     sells more to the pact's 95 million people than to China's 
     1.2 billion people.
       MERCOSUR, the common market established by Brazil, 
     Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, has agreed to eliminate all 
     nontariff barriers affecting regional trade.
       NAFTA in its first 11 months of existence already has 
     proven that free trade produces strong positive benefits. 
     U.S. exports to Mexico have expanded by more than 17 percent, 
     and Mexico's exports to the United States grew by 20 percent. 
     If this continues, Mexico will displace Japan as our second-
     largest world market by year's end.
       Yet, despite the potential great benefits, there is strong 
     congressional reluctance to move on the Western Hemisphere 
     Free Trade initiative. This also was the reason the Clinton 
     administration was forced to withdraw fast-track negotiating 
     authority from the GATT bill passed by Congress last week.
       The bottom line is that those who are for a Western 
     Hemisphere agreement had better start a strong effort now to 
     ensure that Congress gets behind the agreement and passes 
     fast-track.
     

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