    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [July 9, 1993]
    [Pages 1035-1037]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1035]]

    The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Kim Campbell of
    Canada in Tokyo
    July 9, 1993

        The President. Good afternoon. I have just spent a very rewarding
    hour and a half with Prime Minister Campbell and members of her
    government. After a very impressive career in other posts in government
    and a very rapid rise to the leadership of her country, I must say I
    have been very impressed with the contributions that she has made to
    this summit and with the conversations that we have had all along, but
    especially today.
        The relationship that we have with Canada is really unique in all
    the world. It is our largest trading relationship. We are each other's
    largest trading partners. And even though we have disputes from time to
    time, when you consider the volume and diversity of trade between us,
    those disputes are remarkably few and narrow in scope.
        Canada has been a very strong security partner of the United States.
    And while we share a lot in common, we also are very different and
    distinctive countries, and I think we have a lot to learn from one
    another.
        I might just mention with regard to two specific issues that we
    discussed, first, I reaffirmed to the Prime Minister my commitment to
    successfully concluding the side agreements to the North American Free
    Trade Agreement and to then moving forward to successful passage of that
    agreement in the United States Congress. As you know, it has passed the
    Canadian Parliament pending its ratification by Congress. And secondly,
    I asked the Prime Minister for her support in our attempts to fulfill
    the agreement signed just a few days ago by President Aristide and
    General Cedras to restore democracy in Haiti. Canada has been one of the
    United States' best friends on the Haitian issue, with a substantial
    Haitian population and a lot of French-speaking people who can make a
    unique contribution to this restoration process. So for both those
    things, I am grateful for our common positions, and I appreciate her
    support.
        I think I'll turn the microphone over to Prime Minister Campbell
    now, and then we'll be glad to answer some questions.
        Prime Minister Campbell. Thank you very much, Mr. President.
        I'd simply like to reiterate that we had a very fruitful discussion,
    and I think as two novices in the summit process, we both enjoyed
    participating very much. I'd like to thank the President for responding
    very quickly to a request that we have made, and that is that he
    designate someone in the White House to be a point of contact for us in
    managing a variety of issues that arise between our two countries, and
    particularly some trade dispute issues. And the President has agreed to
    do that, and we're looking forward to having that person designated.
        I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate the President
    and his Government on the resolution of the situation in Haiti. I think
    without the United States' involvement, we would not have that kind of
    happy resolution. And I confirm Canada's willingness and commitment to
    be supportive to the followup process in Haiti.

    Economic Summit and Japan-U.S. Trade

        Q. Mr. President, how important is it for you and Prime Minister
    Miyazawa to wrap up this summit with a bilateral U.S.-Japanese trade
    agreement? Will the summit be detracted if you fail to achieve this
    agreement, given the fact that when you met in April, both of you
    indicated that you would achieve this agreement by now?
        The President. No, it will not, because I think everybody concedes
    that the summit has far exceeded expectations for it before we began,
    for two reasons: first of all, the market access agreement on
    manufactured goods, which is the biggest tariff reduction agreement
    among nations in 7 years--the jobs, the implications of that are
    staggering if we can, in fact, conclude the trade agreement by the end
    of the year; and secondly, because of the size and scope of the aid
    package to Russia which is very much, as I have said repeatedly, in the
    interest of the United States and every other democracy in the world--
    continuing to denuclearize Russia, continuing to develop a free market
    economy that can interact with the rest of us. So this has been an
    extremely successful summit.
        We should be driven in our negotiations with

    [[Page 1036]]

    Japan by one simple question: Is this a good agreement or not? Will it
    advance our common interests in reducing the imbalances in our
    relationship? And if the answer is yes, we should go forward; and if
    it's not, we shouldn't. And that's what we're going to do. I don't think
    it has anything to do with the way the summit comes out. It's been a
    huge net plus.
        Q. Mr. President, there seems to be a new optimism today about
    seeing such an agreement, and are you willing to compromise on the
    numerical targets or the basic issues enough to bring about an
    agreement?
        The President. Well, I hope there will be an agreement, and I hope I
    can answer yes to the question that I just posed. I don't think I should
    say much more about it now. They're talking----
        Q. But there is a new optimism?
        The President. I don't want to characterize it. I think anything I
    say to characterize it, up or down, may be wrong. We just have to wait
    and see what happens.
        Q. Mr. President, the economic declaration that you just approved
    today said that in the future the summits should be more informal, and
    they should have fewer documents and declarations. And given that this
    one was a lot less specific in terms of the commitments to growth and
    stimulus than you had originally wanted, have you given any thought to
    doing away with this declaration in the future? Did this have any
    purpose at all?
        The President. No, I like this political declaration. Actually, I
    think both the declarations that we issued here are briefer than they
    have been in the past, and they're quite specific and, I think, quite
    good. But we tried very hard not to make them unrealistic, that is, not
    to have the nations commit to things they had no intention of doing or,
    perhaps more to the point, no capacity to do.
        So I feel pretty good about that. I think what the people who've
    been here for many years said was that they liked the fact that we were
    moving back toward a more informal summit process where we focused on
    one or two big issues, where we tried to get one or two things done, and
    we didn't overly bureaucratize it. And I think our commitment was to go
    to Italy next year with smaller operations, more streamlined, even less
    bureaucracy but focusing on intense, very honest and open interchanges
    among the leaders, and then try to get one or two specific things done.
        Anyone from the Canadian press?

    Canada-U.S. Trade and Strike on Iraq

        Q. For your benefit, Mr. President, I'll put my question in English.
    I would like to know, Mrs. Campbell, in what terms you did talk to the
    President about trade disputes between Canada and the United States. And
    I'd like to know as well if you asked him that the next time the United
    States launches an attack somewhere, if Canada would like to be informed
    before the event instead of after?
        Prime Minister Campbell. Well, in answer to your second question,
    the answer is yes.
         In answer to the first question, I raised a number of the issues
    that are outstanding between us. Now, obviously we weren't in a position
    to resolve them here. A number of my provincial colleagues also raised
    concerns, and so I discussed the irritants that are between us,
    particularly wheat, sugar, softwood lumber. And I'm very pleased that we
    will be pursuing those, but more importantly, that we now will have
    someone in the White House who will be designated as someone that we can
    be in touch with to help manage those particular irritants between us.
        The President. Let me answer--if I might answer that question. The
    Prime Minister mentioned wheat, sugar, lumber, and beer. We talked about
    those issues. She also brought to my attention, frankly, something that
    I have to admit I think she's absolutely right on, that Canada should
    have been notified at the time we took the action in Iraq. Let me tell
    you, there was a very tight time window there because of the coincidence
    of the time when I received the final report from my intelligence and
    investigative agencies and when the trial started again and getting past
    the Sabbath in the Islamic countries, the day of worship. That's
    something that we should have done then and that we will do in the
    future. Canada has been a good strategic ally of the United States. It's
    absolutely pivotal in any number of ways. And it was a very legitimate
    issue to raise.
        Another question from the Canadian press?

    Trade With Japan

        Q. Prime Minister, President Clinton has been pressed from the
    Japanese to reduce their trade deficit. Are you not afraid that such
    pressure might result in Japanese investment in Can-

    [[Page 1037]]

    ada being reduced and siphoned off to the United States?
        Prime Minister Campbell. Well, there is already a competitive
    environment for investment. I think the challenge for us is to be an
    attractive investment environment. And right now there are no
    guarantees. So I don't see that that's necessarily going to result in
    the future. I think what the Americans are most concerned about is not
    simply the flow of investment from Japan to North America but the
    opening of the Japanese market to goods that are made in North America.
    And I think that's the significant part of that, of the concern that the
    United States has raised with Japan. So the short answer to your
    question is no, I don't see that as a problem in either the short or
    medium term.
        The President. If anything, it might increase Japanese investment in
    both the United States and Canada so that market share could be
    maintained while abating the trade deficit. So I wouldn't worry about
    that at all. I think if anything happens on the investment side, it will
    encourage more investment in our continent.
        Q. Prime Minister, do you support numerical trade targets with Japan
    the way the United States is seeking at the moment?
        Prime Minister Campbell. Well, I think it's up to the United States
    and Japan to find the mechanism that will work best to meet their goals.
    I made the point both to the President and to the Prime Minister of
    Japan that it is in Canada's interest that they resolve those problems
    because when the United States and Japan have a trade dispute, it is
    very often Canada that gets sideswiped by the remedies.
        So it is very much in Canada's strategic interests that those issues
    be resolved. As to which mechanism is used, I think that's up to the
    United States and Japan to determine. But we very much support the
    resolution of that dispute.
        The President. Thank you all very much.

    Note: The President's 21st news conference began at 2:23 p.m. at the
    U.S. Ambassador's residence. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. Raoul
    Cedras, commander of the Haitian military.