    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [September 10, 1997]
    [Pages 1148-1152]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Supporting Renewal of Fast-Track Trading Authority
    September 10, 1997

        Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President, members of the
    administration. Mr. Lang, thank you for coming all the way from Iowa.
    And Susan, thank you for coming all the way from California; all else
    fails, you can give speaking lessons. [Laughter]
        I also would like to thank the Members of Congress who have come. I
    see Senator Moynihan and Senator Baucus and a significant delegation
    from the House, including Congressmen Matsui and Fazio who have often
    been on the forefront of our trade issues. It's nice to see former
    Chairman Gibbons out there and former Congressmen Carr and Anthony.
    There may be--and former Congressman, our Ambassador to Mexico, Jim
    Jones. There are a lot of other former Members perhaps here, but I
    appreciate all of you being here to support this endeavor today.

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        These stories that we have heard, one from a farmer, one from a
    high-tech small-business person, make it clear that as we approach a new
    century and a new millennium, we live in a time of profound change and
    immense possibility. We have worked, as the Vice President said, to take
    our Nation and to lead the world to the edge of this new era in this new
    economy, to build on a strategy of eliminating the deficit, increasing
    investments in our people, and expanding our exports, and to do it in a
    way that would bolster America's world leadership for peace and freedom
    and prosperity around the world.
        It is true that we have made significant progress with the balanced
    budget agreement in completing the business of balancing the budget, in
    making education our genuine top priority, and investing in our people.
    And it is a good thing that we are moving forward. But we must also
    recognize that for all the dramatic expansion of trade in the last 4\1/
    2\ years, for all the expansion in our economic opportunities and the
    enhancement of our world leadership, the world markets are changing so
    rapidly and growing so quickly, there, too, we must take new action to
    move forward.
        I'm asking the Congress to renew the President's traditional
    authority to negotiate trade deals, to open more American markets for
    goods and services from our country, and to restore the partnership
    between the Congress and the President in the trade arena necessary to
    keep our economy strong and our leadership strong.
        The Vice President said this before, but I want to reemphasize this:
    We are enjoying now an unemployment rate in the Nation of under 5
    percent, with over 13 million new jobs in the last 5 years. We have
    stable inflation at the lowest level in 30 years. And it appears that
    after a very good year last year, our economy this year will also grow
    in excess of 3 percent.
        Now, how do we intend to continue to do that if we have 4 percent of
    the world's people and we already have 20 percent of the world's income?
    We have to sell to the other 96 percent of the world's people,
    especially when we know that the developing economies are projected to
    grow in Latin America and Asia at almost 3 times the rate of the mature
    economies over the next 15 to 20 years. And if we do it right, by the
    way, it will make the world a much better place because 10 to 15 to 20
    countries will move from the ranks of being very poor countries into
    being countries with sustainable incomes for their own people, making
    them better democratic partners, more likely to be positive contributors
    to the world of tomorrow, less likely to be trouble spots that will
    command America's attention to try to keep something bad from happening
    when we ought to be working with them to make good things happen.
        So this is very much the way of the future that America must lead
    toward. We have worked for 4\1/2\ years--we had over 220 new trade
    agreements. I compliment our Trade Ambassador, Charlene Barshefsky, and
    her predecessor, Mickey Kantor. They have worked very hard. Most
    recently, we had an information technology agreement which will generate
    hundreds of billions of dollars in income.
        We now estimate that of the important growth we've enjoyed in the
    last 4\1/2\ years, almost a third of it came because of our expansion of
    trade. During this period American has once again become the world's
    number one exporter, our largest producer of automobiles, the world's
    largest agricultural exporter, the world's largest producer of
    semiconductors. From the farms of our heartland to the high-tech firms
    of the future, business is booming in this country. And from specialty
    steel to telecommunications, America leads the world in a very
    competitive global marketplace.
        But I emphasize again, this is not a static situation. In order for
    us to continue to create jobs and opportunities for our own people and
    to maintain our world leadership, we have to continue to expand exports.
    We have to use every tool we can get to open foreign markets to our
    goods and services; we have to continue the fight for open, fair, and
    reciprocal trade; we have to continue to stand against unfair trade
    practices; and we have to act now to continue this progress to make sure
    our economy will work for all the American people.
        Congress, therefore, must renew the President's traditional
    authority to negotiate trade agreements. That is what we are here to say
    to the United States, and that is what we are here to ask you to help us
    to do.
        Again, let me say this is something that I could not have
    appreciated the day I took the oath of office the first time back in
    1993. This is about more than economics. It is very much about
    economics, and it is very important, but it is about more than
    economics. It's about

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    whether other countries will continue to look to the United States to
    lead to a future of peace and freedom and prosperity, about whether the
    world will be growing together instead of coming apart, about whether
    our economic ties will lead to cultural ties and ties of partnership, or
    whether we will be viewed as somehow withdrawn from the world, not
    interested in leading it, and therefore not nearly as influential as we
    might otherwise be for the causes in which we so deeply believe.
        Every President of either party has had this authority since 1974
    for a very good reason. It strengthens our ability to break down trade
    barriers and unfair trade restrictions in areas where we already lead
    and where our future lies, such as agriculture, telecommunications,
    medical equipment, environmental technology, and the creative power of
    our entertainment and our software. Every single trade agreement we will
    reach will tear down barriers to our goods and services, and that is
    good for America. And I think it is worth emphasizing again.
        Virtually without exception--as far as I know, without any
    meaningful exception--the nations with whom we will negotiate agreements
    have markets that are more open than ours. When we talk about sectoral
    agreements, in all these sectors our markets are more open--the markets
    are more closed than ours. And in these sectoral agreements, all these
    sectoral agreements involve areas where we are highly competitive, where
    other markets are more closed than ours. In all the global agreements we
    would negotiate, we will be dealing with areas where we are already
    highly competitive. This is a good thing for us economically. And it is
    absolutely critical for our world leadership.
        Now, just look at this information technology agreement. It's a
    good, representative agreement, even though it's larger in its scope
    than some others we'll be able to negotiate. We reached it with 42 other
    nations last December to unshackle trade on $500 billion in computers,
    semiconductors, and telecommunications equipment. It's the equivalent of
    a $5 billion cut in tariffs on American products exported to other
    nations, and it will lead to thousands and thousands and thousands of
    new high-wage jobs in America. It will also bind us, in one of the most
    critical areas of human endeavor, more closely to other countries with
    whom we want to share a common future in a positive way.
        The second thing I'd like to emphasize again is that we want to
    concentrate on the fastest growing markets in the world, in Latin
    America and in Asia. These markets are going to go 3 times faster than
    our own and than Europe's in the next decade. They will become very
    important to our economic future, whether we do this or not. The
    question is, will it be a positive or a negative importance? Their
    economies are on a fast track. They are not waiting for us to pass a
    bill. And we have to face that.
        The third point I'd like to make is that if we don't have this
    authority, we will leave the field to our competitors, to break down
    more trade barriers to their own products at our expense. Since 1992, in
    Latin America and Asia alone, our competitors have negotiated over 20
    agreements that don't include the United States. For example, now that
    Canada has negotiated a trade agreement with Chile, every major economy
    in this hemisphere has duty-free access to Chilean markets--every major
    economy but one, ours. I don't think that's a very good deal for
    American business or American workers.
        Finally, let me say again, if we want to spread prosperity and open
    trade to support peace and democracy and freedom and free markets, we
    must do this. Other countries look at this decision in the United States
    as a decision about whether we continue to lead the world toward freedom
    and openness and partnership. And make no mistake about it, it is about
    more than economics, but increasingly our foreign policy and our
    economic policy are merging. And what is good for us economically, when
    it is good for other countries economically, advances the cause of
    freedom and prosperity and free markets and stability and partnership.
        It is a remarkable thing that for the first time in history, more
    than half the world's people live under governments of their own
    choosing. When I was a boy growing up, I think most people could not
    have imagined that. Now, unfortunately, many of us take it for granted.
    I spend a great deal of time every day reviewing the situation in the
    world, as you might imagine, and I can tell you, you cannot take it for
    granted. It is not certain that 10 years from now or 15 years from now
    or 20 years from now, more than half the world's people will still live
    under governments of their own choosing. The governments have to be able
    to deliver the

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    goods. They have to be able to show the benefits of freedom and
    democracy. And the partnerships we have, as I said again, that are very
    much in our own interest, by helping them to elevate their countries
    will also stabilize freedom and secure a better future.
        Now, let me also say that those of us who support open trade have to
    acknowledge that the benefits and burdens of the global economy, both in
    this country and in other countries, will not automatically fall equally
    upon all shoulders. They never have, in any market, and they never will.
    We must acknowledge that the possible effects of global trade on some
    communities or businesses or workers will not be positive in the short
    run, even though we know that this agreement will be overwhelmingly
    positive for the vast majority of Americans in the short run and in the
    long run. But because of that, I have worked very hard for the last 5
    years to give more and more Americans the tools to benefit from change,
    to take the changes that are going to occur anyway and make something
    good happen, especially giving Americans access to more and to better
    education.
        We have to make sure that all Americans can reap the fruits of the
    economic growth we have enjoyed as a nation. But we cannot do that by
    stepping off the path of economic growth. We can only do it by giving
    all Americans the tools to participate in that growth.
        And let me make one final point. As we continue to expand our
    economy here at home by expanding our leadership in the global economy,
    I do believe we have an obligation to support and to encourage labor
    standards and environmental protections abroad, indeed, around the
    world. Our commitment to workers' rights and environmental protection
    are, and have long been, reflections of our fundamental values. They
    also have been a benefit to our own economy, and they will become more a
    benefit to our economy as we move into a 21st-century world where
    maintaining a clean environment will create more high-wage jobs for
    working people, so that social responsibility and economic markets will
    merge in their common interests and objectives.
        We will continue to seek even further adherence around the globe to
    fundamental worker rights and environmental protection, as we have for
    decades. We do not accept the fact that free trade should lower our
    standards to meet those of other countries. Indeed, our goal should be
    to persuade other countries to build on the prosperity that comes with
    trade to lift their own labor standards, their own people up and to make
    a commitment to economic growth with environmental protection, a
    commitment we must reaffirm this very year. Trade need not pull
    standards down; it must lift them up. And we can do that if we'll work
    at it.
        Ladies and gentlemen, for more than 50 years now, we have had a
    bipartisan consensus on the importance of expanding trade for the
    American economy and creating a global trading system as a part of
    America's leadership for peace and freedom. Our prosperity, our
    leadership, our values, all have been richly rewarded by the efforts we
    have made. And whenever we have abandoned this course, we have done so
    at our peril, and our interests and our values have paid for it. It is
    now clearly more important than ever that we get a new consensus on
    building a new global economy for the 21st century. I am committed to
    consulting with the Congress to make sure that this fast-track
    legislation receives the full, bipartisan support it deserves and the
    American people expect.
        If the historic budget agreement we reached in July taught us
    anything, it is that we actually can, and indeed, we must, pull together
    for the good of the American people and the future of our country. Our
    trade policy should not be about politics; it ought to be about
    prosperity and building a new economy for the new millennium. Our
    workers are the most productive in the world. They can outcompete anyone
    in the world, and we have to give them that opportunity. It's also about
    our leadership and the world we want for our children.
        Finally, let me say this is very important, especially to the
    millions and millions of working families, because if we do not continue
    to expand markets for our country's products and services, there is no
    way, in a world where other economies are growing faster than ours, we
    can maintain our standard of living with 4 percent of the world's people
    and 20 percent of the world's wealth. The people with the biggest stake
    in this struggle are those who go to work every day at jobs all across
    America, jobs of all kinds.
        I know there are heartfelt concerns that expanding jobs in exports
    and trade could wind up hurting some Americans. That's why we're moving
    to shape the changes we face. Change is certain; progress is not. But
    walking away

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    from this opportunity will not create a single job. No one suggests we
    should throw up greater barriers in our own marketplace. Walking away
    from this opportunity will only leave the inequalities that are there
    now, that do not work to the advantage of either American businesses or
    American workers. Backing away from this responsibility will not make
    the environment better. It won't clean up a single toxic waste site.
    Turning away from the effort will not expand our economy, enhance our
    competitiveness, or empower our workers.
        I say again, the global economy is on a very fast track to the 21st
    century. The question is whether we are going to lead the way or follow.
    Today, this country is at the pinnacle of its influence. Our economy is
    the strongest in the world. We have been very, very blessed. This is not
    the time to shrink from the future. This is the time to lead to the
    future. We have a special responsibility because we are doing so well
    now--a responsibility to think of how our children will do, a
    responsibility to think of how others around the world will do, a
    responsibility to think of how this world ought to look like and ought
    to work like in 20 or 30 years.
        So I say, the future will not wait for us, but we can shape it. I do
    not intend to sit on the sidelines, and I'll bet you, when the time for
    counting comes, the Congress won't either.
        Thank you very much, and God bless you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:28 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Eugene Lang, corn and soybean
    farmer from Grinnell, IA; and Susan Corrales-Diaz, president and chief
    executive officer, Systems Integrated, Inc.