    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [May 24, 1991]
    [Pages 559-562]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Exports-Generating Jobs for Americans Luncheon in Boston,
    Massachusetts
    May 24, 1991

        Thank you all very, very much for that warm welcome. Secretary
    Mosbacher--and let me single out the other man up here--it's so good to
    see the Bay State's own, able, achieving Governor Bill Weld here, who is
    working hard also in his spare time on this very important question of
    exports. I salute him and thank him for what he and the other New
    England Governors are doing when they come together to do this.
        I want to salute Lieutenant Governor Paul Cellucci, an old friend
    who is out here somewhere; and another one, the treasurer of this State,
    Joe Malone, who are with us right over here. I'm going to get in trouble
    on this, but I see, next to Joe, Pat Saiki, the new head of the SBA; and
    Ron Roskens of AID is over here. John Macomber, formerly one of you, one
    of the chief executives of one of the largest companies in America, now
    ably heading the Ex-Im Bank over here. Another one so well-known who
    came out of private business, a big success, and now in Government, Fred
    Zeder, the able head of OPIC. And then--many others--Priscilla Rabb-
    Ayres from the U.S. Trade and Development Program; Ron Skates, head of
    Data General. Let me just cut it off there. But I should have many, many
    more to whom I pay my respects and my thanks. Let me just simply say
    thank you all for coming out, all of you in the audience who are
    supporting American exports.
        Frankly, having gone to school outside of Boston, it is nice to
    visit Boston, a place known for its humility and intellectual modesty.
    [Laughter] The old saying you remember: If you hear an owl hoot to
    ``whom'' instead of ``who,'' you can be sure it was born and educated in
    Boston. [Laughter]
        But I am glad to be back here. This area has been through hell, and
    I am absolutely confident that under the State's leadership of Bill Weld
    and under your leadership, Boston and Massachusetts has not lost its
    enterprise spirit. You're caught up in a regional problem with this
    recession, and I am confident that you'll come booming out of it,
    particularly if your work on exports is as successful as I'm sure it
    will be.
        You know, it feels a little strange to be talking about exports in
    front of the real expert, my dear friend Bob Mosbacher. And I just can't
    tell you how much he's done on Fast Track and on all these regional
    conferences and in so many other ways. I'm glad to see him here. And I
    heard that he dashed back to Washington from yesterday's lunch to give a
    last-minute push for the extension of Fast Track.
        Bob, you and everyone associated with our national export initiative
    have really done a spectacular job promoting exports from the United
    States. And, frankly, the numbers tell the tale. This nation enjoyed its
    greatest export month ever last October. And the latest monthly
    figures--and they're for March--nearly equaled the record. We exported
    $34 billion in goods that month, and we had the smallest, the smallest
    monthly trade deficit that we've seen in 7\1/2\ years.
        As you all know, the world economy has changed. It's changed
    dramatically in recent years. If you want to succeed in business these
    days, you can't worry just about competition from U.S. companies; you
    have to go head-on-head with firms from all over the world. The lesson
    is clear: If we want to remain the greatest economic power on Earth, we
    must build a strong economy at home. But in
    my view just as important, we

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    must make sure that our companies have a fair chance to do business
    abroad.
        In recent years--I look around this room and read my briefing papers
    on the attendees--your companies led the way. You helped drive the
    longest peacetime expansion in our nation's history. In the process, you
    supplied jobs and you generated ideas, and you created new industries.
    All you have to do is look around the Boston area at Information Alley,
    at larger companies such as Digital Equipment, Foxboro, Raytheon--
    builders of the Patriot missile. Look at the medium-sized firms, such as
    Little and Ocean Spray. And you even have small dynamos, like Octocom
    Systems and Jet Spray International.
        Boston was built on trade. Before our independence it was one of the
    most important ports in the entire British Empire. We reminded the Queen
    of that when she was here the other day--[laughter]--because we had her
    for lunch up in our Family Dining Room, which is surrounded with
    pictures of the Port of Boston and the vital trade that was going
    through there years ago, and it still continues. But it served as this
    nation's trading capital for years.
        Enterprise comes naturally here. Yankee entrepreneurs push the
    envelope of innovation. You give America the power of inspiration, of
    enterprise, and of creativity.
        The New England Governors Conference has worked hard to promote the
    cause of international trade. Governor Weld and five other colleagues
    have put together an economic development strategy that stresses the
    importance of increasing New England's visibility, increasing New
    England's clout in international markets.
        Our administration has tried hard to encourage export businesses in
    a number of ways. Just a year ago we created the Trade Promotion
    Coordinating Committee, a council of 18 Federal agencies that provide
    export assistance to U.S. businesses. This week, the Committee has
    inaugurated a trade information center for companies to call in. The
    number: 1-800-USA-TRADE. It gives callers access to information about
    the full range of Federal programs to help our exporters.
        Today, let me just focus briefly on two critical aspects of
    international competitiveness: quality production at home and free and
    fair trade around the globe. Let's start with quality. It is no secret
    that American products, once the envy of the world, face stiff
    competition now from all over the globe. But no one can say that
    Americans aren't interested in quality.
        In a competitive world we have reasserted ourselves and will
    continue to do so. Four years ago the Reagan administration and the
    Congress created the Malcolm Baldrige awards to honor quality in the
    workplace. We now give up to six awards a year, but only if we find
    enough companies that meet what are very exacting standards that the
    Baldrige award requires. The competition, I'm proud to say, gets more
    intense each year. Only 66 companies applied for the award in 1988; this
    year 106 did. The largest number of applications came from small
    businesses.
        Everywhere you can find evidence that American businesses want to
    compete. You see it in the workplace, where labor and management are
    working together to build better and more reliable and more innovative
    products. You see it in the classrooms, where workers go to build upon
    our most precious natural resource, our minds. And you see it, I proudly
    say, in our America 2000 education strategy, which encourages lifelong
    learning. Even see it in shops and stores, where ``Made in the U.S.A.''
    has become a selling point again and where the Baldrige award has become
    a major advertising bonus.
        This is also true in foreign markets. Our export business has grown
    dramatically of late. American firms exported $371 billion worth of
    goods and services in 1985. Just 5 years later, their total had grown to
    $673 billion.
        We export more than any nation on Earth, and we import more. Since
    1986 sales to Canada, our larget trading partner, have increased by two-
    thirds. Our trade with Latin America has increased even more rapidly, up
    74 percent. Listen to this one in light of the recent debate. Exports to
    Mexico, now our number 3 trading partner, have grown to an astounding
    130 percent since 1986. That's really, as we see it--Bob and I see it--
    just a beginning.

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        We enjoyed an 80-percent increase in sales both to Western Europe
    and Japan. Exports to the newly industrialized nations of the Pacific
    Rim rose by 132 percent. And trade in this hemisphere has grown
    dramatically because the new democracies in Central America and South
    America have begun eliminating constraints on foreign investment and
    lifting import restrictions on such products as automotive parts,
    computers, software, industrial supplies--the building blocks of any
    modern market economy.
        As an administration, we want to build upon that record by
    completing the Uruguay round of the GATT negotiations and opening up the
    entire world for free and fair trade. We also want to create a free
    trade zone that would encompass Canada and the United States and Mexico.
        This single market--360 million consumers who now produce $6
    trillion in annual output--would tower over even the European market.
    But, frankly, we don't want to stop there. We also hope to build upon
    our trade success south of Mexico through the Enterprise for the
    Americas Initiative. We no longer will take South America for granted. I
    can't think of a more appropriate time to talk about these initiatives
    than today. We're wrapping up World Trade Week, and we stand on the
    verge of a new age of wider, swifter, more integrated world trade.
        I am very, very happy, indeed, to say that the United States Senate
    a few minutes ago joined the House in extending the Fast Track trade
    procedures. And that was thanks to a great show of bipartisanship. I
    salute my fellow Texan, Lloyd Bentsen; I salute our leader in my side of
    the aisle, Bob Dole; I salute Bob Packwood and so many others who went
    up against big odds to prevail on this issue.
        The administration can move ahead on several very important trade
    initiatives now. And these do include the Uruguay round of the GATT
    talks, the North American free trade agreement, and the Enterprise for
    the Americas Initiative. We've shown the world that we will meet the
    challenges of the 21st century and that we'll meet them united in
    purpose and united in effort.
        Let me stress that the administration will consult closely with
    Congress in these trade talks. We have a superb negotiator in Carla
    Hills, Ambassador Hills, who along with Bob Mosbacher and others in this
    room worked their hearts out to achieve these victories in the House and
    the Senate. But we must from now on continue to cooperate with the
    United States Congress.
        Fast Track provides a tool for dealing in good faith with Congress
    and with our trading partners. Its passage provides some of our best
    economic news in months.
        I met recently with leaders from the textile and apparel industries.
    Let's face it, that industry was somewhat divided. But I met with quite
    a few of them in the White House, leaders of the industries, each of
    whom saw great opportunity in a free trade agreement with Mexico. One
    CEO told me that her company's 1,200 jobs in Mexico support 2,000 jobs
    here in the United States of America. And without this alliance, she
    said, those 2,000 jobs simply would not exist.
        And the point is this: Through Fast Track, I really believe
    everybody wins. In a world built upon free trade, every nation has a
    vested interest in the prosperity of its trading partners. After all,
    you can't export to a nation that is suffering from economic depression.
    Free and fair trade builds ties of mutual interest. It lays down a
    foundation for peace and for prosperity right here in our hemisphere and
    throughout the world.
        Our entire administration is dedicated to the cause of free and fair
    trade and American exports. Vice President Quayle was promoting the
    cause just this week in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. And
    just a short while ago, I met with members of PEC, the President's
    Export Council. And what a superb Council we have--busy people, busy
    executives giving their time to help this concept of expanded exports.
    Heinz Prechter and Bev Dolan and the other hard-working members are
    advancing the cause.
        And you in your daily affairs play an equally crucial role. You help
    America put its best face and its best products before the entire world.
    And so again, on this very special day for American exports and, I say,
    for American prosperity, I thank you for

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    being here. I thank you for all the time you give to this noble crusade.
    And may God bless you and God bless our wonderful country. Thank you
    very, very much.

                        Note: The President spoke at 12:34 p.m. in the
                            Cityview Ballroom at the Boston World Trade
                            Center. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary
                            of Commerce Robert A. Mosbacher; Gov. William
                            Weld and Lt. Gov. A. Paul Cellucci of
                            Massachusetts; Joseph Malone, Massachusetts
                            State treasurer; Patricia F. Saiki,
                            Administrator of the Small Business
                            Administration; Ronald W. Roskens, Administrator
                            of the Agency for International Development;
                            John D. Macomber, President of the Export-Import
                            Bank of the United States; Fred M. Zeder,
                            President and Chief Executive Officer of the
                            Overseas Private Investment Corporation;
                            Priscilla Rabb-Ayres, Director of the Trade
                            Development Program; Ronald L. Skates, president
                            and chief executive officer of Data General
                            Corp.; Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom;
                            Senators Lloyd Bentsen, Bob Dole, and Bob
                            Packwood; Carla A. Hills, U.S. Trade
                            Representative; and Heinz C. Prechter and
                            Beverly F. Dolan, Chairman and Vice Chairman of
                            the President's Export Council.