    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [May 20, 1998]
    [Page 816]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on the Conclusion of the World Trade Organization Meeting
    May 20, 1998

        I am pleased and proud that the members of the World Trade
    Organization (``WTO'') have accepted my invitation to hold the 1999 WTO
    Ministerial meeting in the United States. This meeting will enable us to
    advance the ambitious agenda I laid out earlier this week to shape the
    world trading system to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Next
    year's meeting will bring home for Americans the important stake that we
    all have in the global economy. And I welcome the decision by the WTO to
    ask United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky to chair that meeting.
        In Geneva, we made important advances on our proposal to free the
    potential of electronic commerce. I am particularly pleased that the WTO
    members joined the United States in a standstill on any tariffs on
    electronic transmissions sent across national borders. We cannot allow
    discriminatory barriers to stunt the development of the most promising
    new economic opportunity in decades. This worldwide proposal builds on
    far-reaching agreements we reached within the last week with the
    European Union and Japan.
        As we build a trading system for the 21st century that honors our
    values and expands opportunity, we must do more to ensure that spirited
    economic competition among nations never becomes a race to the bottom,
    in environmental protections, consumer protections, or labor standards.
    Without such a strategy, we cannot build the necessary public support
    for continued expansion of trade. I will work to ensure that the WTO and
    other international institutions are more responsive to labor, the
    environment, consumers, and other interests so that we can build the
    public confidence we need in our trade expansion initiatives.
        I want to thank Ambassador Barshefsky; Secretary Glickman;
    Ambassador Rita Hayes, our Ambassador to the WTO;
    and all the representatives of the U.S. business community and other
    participants in the Ministerial who worked to make this meeting a
    success.