[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)] [November 3, 1993] [Pages 1892-1893] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]Message to the Congress Transmitting Proposed Legislation To Implement the North American Free Trade Agreement November 3, 1993 To the Congress of the United States: I am pleased to transmit today legislation to implement the North American Free Trade Agreement, an agreement vital to the national interest and to our ability to compete in the global economy. I also am transmitting a number of related documents required for the implementation of NAFTA. For decades, the United States has enjoyed a bipartisan consensus on behalf of a free and open trading system. Administrations of both parties have negotiated, and Congresses have approved, agreements that lower tariffs and expand opportunities for American workers and American firms to export their products overseas. The result has been bigger profits and more jobs here at home. Our commitment to more free and more fair world trade has encouraged democracy and human rights in nations that trade with us. With the end of the Cold War, and the growing significance of the global economy, trade agreements that lower barriers to American exports rise in importance. The North American Free Trade Agreement is the first trade expansion measure of this new era, and it is in the national interest that the Congress vote its approval. Not only will passage of NAFTA reduce tariff barriers to American goods, but it also will oper- [[Page 1893]] ate in an unprecedented manner--to improve environmental conditions on the shared border between the United States and Mexico, to raise the wages and living standards of Mexican workers, and to protect our workers from the effects of unexpected surges in Mexican imports into the United States. This pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-exports agreement--if adopted by the Congress--will vastly improve the status quo with regard to trade, the environment, labor rights, and the creation and protection of American jobs. Without NAFTA, American business will continue to face high tariff rates and restrictive nontariff barriers that inhibit their ability to export to Mexico. Without NAFTA, incentives will continue to encourage American firms to relocate their operations and take American jobs to Mexico. Without NAFTA, we face continued degradation of the natural environment with no strategy for clean-up. Most of all, without NAFTA, Mexico will have every incentive to make arrangements with Europe and Japan that operate to our disadvantage. Today, Mexican tariffs are two and a half times greater than U.S. tariffs. This agreement will create the world's largest tariff-free zone, from the Canadian Arctic to the Mexican tropics--more than 370 million consumers and over $6.5 trillion of production, led by the United States. As tariff walls come down and exports go up, the United States will create 200,000 new jobs by 1995. American goods will enter this market at lower tariff rates than goods made by our competitors. Mexico is a rapidly growing country with a rapidly expanding middle class and a large pent-up demand for goods--especially American goods. Key U.S. companies are poised to take advantage of this market of 90 million people. NAFTA ensures that Mexico's reforms will take root, and then flower. Moreover, NAFTA is a critical step toward building a new post-Cold War community of free markets and free nations throughout the Western Hemisphere. Our neighbors--not just in Mexico but throughout Latin America--are waiting to see whether the United States will lead the way toward a more open, hopeful, and prosperous future or will instead hunker down behind protective, but self-defeating walls. This Nation-- and this Congress--has never turned away from the challenge of international leadership. This is no time to start. The North American Free Trade Agreement is accompanied by supplemental agreements, which will help ensure that increased trade does not come at the cost of our workers or the border environment. Never before has a trade agreement provided for such comprehensive arrangements to raise the living standards of workers or to improve the environmental quality of an entire region. This makes NAFTA not only a stimulus for economic growth, but a force for social good. Finally, NAFTA will also provide strong incentives for cooperation on illegal immigration and drug interdiction. The implementing legislation for NAFTA I forward to the Congress today completes a process that has been accomplished in the best spirit of bipartisan teamwork. NAFTA was negotiated by two Presidents of both parties and is supported by all living former Presidents of the United States as well as by distinguished Americans from many walks of life-- government, civil rights, and business. They recognize what trade expanding agreements have meant for America's economic greatness in the past, and what this agreement will mean for America's economic and international leadership in the years to come. The North American Free Trade Agreement is an essential part of the economic strategy of this country: expanding markets abroad and providing a level playing field for American workers to compete and win in the global economy. America is a Nation built on hope and renewal. If the Congress honors this tradition and approves this agreement, it will help lead our country into the new era of prosperity and leadership that awaits us. William J. Clinton The White House, November 3, 1993. Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on November 4.