    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [May 18, 1998]
    [Pages 807-811]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland
    May 18, 1998

        Thank you very much, Director General Ruggiero, Federal Councillor Couchepin. Your Excellencies, thank you for the opportunity to
    address you on this most important occasion.
        Near the end of World War II, as leaders and ordinary citizens began
    to dream of a system that would prevent a return to war, President
    Franklin Roosevelt asked the people of the United States and the world
    to look ahead to peace with these words: He said, ``A basic essential to
    permanent peace is a decent standard of living for all individual men
    and women and children in all nations. Freedom from fear is eternally
    linked with freedom from want.''
        It was that understanding that led a farsighted generation of
    postwar leaders, determined to

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    avoid past errors of protectionism and isolationism, to embrace what was
    then still a revolutionary idea, that freedom, freely elected
    governments, free markets, the free flow of ideas, the free movement of
    people would be the surest route to the greatest prosperity for the
    largest number of people.
        They were also confident that growing economic interdependence would
    lead to greater peace among nations. The economic alliances and
    institutions they created--the IMF, the World Bank, the GATT--built a
    platform for prosperity and peace that has lasted down to the present
    day.
        In the fullness of time, events have confirmed the convictions of
    the founders of the international system. World trade has increased
    fifteenfold; average tariffs have declined by 90 percent; the trading
    community has grown from 23 nations to 132, with 31 more working to
    join. Russia and China, where the shackles of state socialism once
    choked off enterprise, are moving to join the thriving community of free
    democracies. Trade is creating prosperity among the nations of the
    Americas and offers hope to the emerging economies of Africa and Asia.
        On the edge of a new millennium, our people are creating a new
    economy, a very different one from that our founders faced 50 years ago.
    The new one is driven by technology, powered by ingenuity, rewards
    knowledge and teamwork, flexibility and creativity, and draws us closer
    across the lines that have divided us for too long.
        On any given day, over 3 million people take to the air on
    commercial flights. Three decades ago phone lines could only accommodate
    80 calls at one time between Europe and the United States. Today, they
    can handle one million calls at one time. In the United States alone,
    economic output has tripled while the physical weight of goods produced
    has barely changed. The world's new wealth largely comes from the power
    of ideas.
        This new global economy of ideas offers the possibility but not the
    guarantee of lifting billions of people into a worldwide middle class
    and a decent standard of living, the opportunity to give their children
    a better life. Yet it also contains within it, as we all know, the seeds
    of new disruptions, new instabilities, new inequalities, new challenges
    to the balance of work and family, of freedom and security, of equal
    opportunity and social justice, of economic growth and a sustainable
    environment.
        The challenge of the millennial generation here gathered is,
    therefore, to create a world trading system, attuned both to the pace
    and scope of a new global economy and to the enduring values which give
    direction and meaning to our lives. We took the first vital step when we
    created the World Trade Organization in 1995, a goal that had alluded
    our predecessors for nearly half-century. The Uruguay round that founded
    the WTO amounted to the biggest tax cut in history, $76 billion a year
    when fully implemented. Since that event, world trade has increased by
    25 percent. Since 1995, we also have begun to build an infrastructure
    for this new economy, with historic agreements on information
    technology, telecommunications, and financial services, which together
    affect trillions of dollars in global commerce every year.
        At the G-8 summit just concluded in Birmingham, the leaders worked
    on ideas to strengthen the international financial architecture so that
    private capital markets can spur rapid growth while minimizing the risk
    of worldwide economic instability. Now, we must build on these
    achievements with a new vision of trade to construct a modern WTO for
    the 21st century. I would like to offer you my suggestions.
        First, we must pursue an ever more open global trading system.
    Today, let me state unequivocally that America is committed to open
    trade among all nations. Economic freedom and open trade have brought
    unprecedented prosperity in the 20th century; they will widen the circle
    of opportunity dramatically in the 21st. One-third of the strong
    economic growth we have enjoyed in America these past 5 years was
    generated by trade. For every country engaged in trade, open markets
    dramatically widen the base of possible customers for our goods and
    services. We must press forward.
        Redoubling our efforts to tear down barriers to trade will spur
    growth in all our countries, creating new businesses, better jobs,
    higher incomes, and advancing the free flow of ideas, information, and
    people that are the lifeblood of democracy and prosperity. At the U.S.-
    EU summit in London today, we embraced this goal and committed ourselves
    to reducing barriers and increasing trade in a dozen important areas.

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        No matter how much some people might wish otherwise, globalization
    and the technology revolution are not policy choices; they are facts.
    The choice is whether we shape these forces of a new economy to benefit
    our people and advance our values or retreat behind walls of protection
    to be left behind in the race for the future.
        At a moment when, for the first time in all human history, a
    majority of the world's people live under governments of their own
    choosing; when the argument over which is better, free enterprise or
    state socialism, has been won; when people on every continent seek to
    join the free market system, those of us who have benefited most from
    this system and led it must not turn our backs. For my part, I am
    determined to pursue an aggressive market opening strategy in every
    region of the world. And I will continue to work with Members of our
    Congress, in both parties, to secure fast-track negotiation authority.
        Second, we must recognize that in this new economy, the way we make
    trade rules and conduct trade affects the lives, daily, and the
    livelihoods and the health and the safety of ordinary families all over
    the world. Therefore, our efforts to make the trading system more open
    must themselves be made more open.
        In order to 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. We should be leveling up, not leveling down. Without such a
    strategy, we cannot build the necessary public support for continued
    expansion of trade. Working people will only assume the risks of a free
    international market if they have the confidence that the system will
    work for them.
        The WTO was created to lift the lives of ordinary citizens. It
    should listen to them. I propose the WTO, for the first time, provide a
    consultative forum where business and labor and environmental and
    consumer groups can provide regular and continuous input to help guide
    further evolution of the WTO. The U.S. and the EU agreed today to
    provide such a forum as part of our new trade agenda. It is far more
    important for the WTO to follow suit. When this body convenes again, the
    world's trade ministers should sit down with representatives of the
    broader public to begin to do this.
        Third, we must actually do more to harmonize our goals of increasing
    trade and improving the environment and working conditions. Expanded
    trade can and should enhance the environment. Indeed, the WTO agreement,
    in its preamble, explicitly adopts sustainable development as an
    objective of open trade, including a commitment to preserve the
    environment and to increase the capacity of nations to do so. Therefore,
    international trade rules must permit sovereign nations to exercise
    their rights to set protective standards for health and safety, the
    environment and biodiversity. Nations have a right to pursue those
    protections, even when they are stronger than international norms.
        I am asking that a high-level meeting be convened to bring together
    trade and environmental ministers to provide strong direction and new
    energy to the WTO's environmental efforts in the years to come, a
    suggestion that has already been made by Sir Leon Brittan of the European Commission.
        Likewise, the WTO and the International Labor Organization should
    commit to work together to make certain that open trade does lift living
    standards and respects the core labor standards that are essential not
    only to worker rights but to human rights. I ask the two organizations'
    secretariats to convene at a high level to discuss these issues.
        This weekend, the G-8 leaders voiced support for the ILO's adoption
    of a new declaration and a meaningful followup mechanism on core labor
    standards when the ILO ministers meet next month here in Geneva. I hope
    you will add your support. We must work hard to ensure that the ILO is a
    vibrant institution. Today I transmitted to our Senate for ratification
    the ILO convention aimed at eliminating discrimination in the workplace.
        Because this new economy is based on ideas, information, and
    technology, the return on investment in education has never been higher,
    and the adverse consequences of being without skills has never been
    greater. These trends cannot be reversed. Our goal, therefore, must be
    to help more people benefit from the possibilities of the new economy,
    even as we ensure that the forces of technology and new trade patterns
    do not aggravate inequality or reinforce poor labor conditions.
        Here I must add even as we do more to harmonize our goals of more
    trade and higher incomes for ordinary people, each nation must

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    do more to provide universal access to quality education and training.
    Without that, no trade rules, however wisely conceived or effected, can
    guarantee individual success to the people we are really trying to
    reach.
        Fourth, we must modernize the WTO by opening its doors to the
    scrutiny and participation of the public. Through long trial and error,
    we have learned that governments work best when their operations are
    open to those affected by their actions. As American Supreme Court
    Justice Louis Brandeis said a long time ago, ``Sunshine is the best of
    disinfectants.''
        The WTO should take every feasible step to bring openness and
    accountability to its operations. Today, when one nation challenges the
    practices of another, the proceeding takes place behind closed doors. I
    propose that all hearings by the WTO be open to the public and all
    briefs by the parties be made publicly available. To achieve this, of
    course, would require a change in the rules of this organization. But
    each of us could do our part now. The United States today formally
    offers to open up every panel we are a party to, and I challenge every
    other nation to join us in making this happen.
        Today, there is no mechanism for private citizens to provide input
    in these trade disputes. I propose further that the WTO provide the
    opportunity for stakeholders to convey their views, such as the ability
    to file amicus briefs to help inform the panels in their deliberations.
    Today, the public must wait weeks to read the reports of these panels. I
    propose that the decisions of the trade panels be made available to the
    public as soon as they are issued.
        Fifth, we must have a trading system that taps the full potential of
    the information age. This revolution in information technology is the
    greatest force for prosperity in our lifetimes. The Internet is the
    fastest growing social and economic community in history, a phenomenon
    with unimagined revolutionary potential to empower billions around the
    world. It has been called the ``death of distance,'' making it possible
    for people to work together across oceans as if they were working
    together across the hall.
        When I became President, there were only 50 sites on the World Wide
    Web. Four years ago there were still less than 3 million people with
    access to the Internet. Today, there are over 100 million people, with
    the number doubling every year.
        Today, there are no customs duties on telephone calls, fax messages,
    E-mail, or computer data links when they cross borders. We have spent 50
    years tearing down barriers to trade in goods and services. Let us agree
    that when it comes to electronic commerce, we will not erect these
    barriers in the first place. I ask the nations of the world to join 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.
        Earlier today at the summit of the EU, we agreed to deepen our
    collaboration in this area. And last week, the Japanese Prime Minister,
    Mr. Hashimoto, and I, agreed to move
    forward together with a market-oriented, private-sector-led approach to
    enhance privacy, protect intellectual property, and encourage the free
    flow of information and commerce on the Internet. I hope we can build a
    consensus that this is the best way to harness the remarkable potential
    of this new means of communication and commerce.
        Sixth, a trading system for the 21st century must be comprised of
    governments that are open, honest, and fair in their practices. In an
    era of global financial markets, prosperity depends upon government
    practices that are based upon the rule of law rather than bureaucratic
    caprice, cronyism, or corruption. Investors demand it. And their loss of
    confidence can have sudden, swift, and severe consequences, with ripples
    throughout entire regional economies.
        With its insistence on rules that are fair and open, the WTO plays a
    powerful role toward open and accountable government. But the WTO must
    do more. When we meet next year, all members of the WTO should agree
    that government purchases should be made through open and fair bidding.
    This single reform can open up $3 trillion worth of business to open
    competition around the world. And I ask every nation to adopt the
    antibribery convention developed by the OECD. Both these steps would
    promote both investor confidence and stability.
        Finally, we must develop an open global trading system that moves as
    fast as the global marketplace. In an era in which new products'
    lifecycles are measured in months and information and money move around
    the globe in seconds, we simply can no longer afford to take 7 years to
    finish a trade round, as happened

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    during the Uruguay round, or to let decades pass between identifying and
    acting on a trade barrier we all know ought to fall.
        In the meantime, new industries arise, new trading blocs take shape,
    and governments invent new trade barriers every day. We should explore
    what new type of trade negotiating round or process is best suited to
    the new economy. There must be a way to tear down barriers without
    waiting for every issue in every sector to be resolved before any issue
    in any sector is resolved. There must be a way to do this that is fair
    and balanced to nations large and small, rich and poor. Surely we can
    negotiate trade agreements in a way that is faster and better than the
    way we have followed to date.
        For example, agriculture, which I understand has been discussed
    quite a bit here, is at the heart of our economy and many of yours.
    Tearing down barriers to global trade is, I believe, critical to meeting
    the food needs of a growing world population. Starting next year, we
    should aggressively begin negotiations to reduce tariffs and subsidies
    and other distortions that restrict productivity and the best allocation
    of food. We must develop rules rooted in science to encourage the full
    fruits of biotechnology. And I propose that even before negotiations
    near conclusions, WTO members should pledge to continue making annual
    tariff and subsidy reductions so that there is no pause in reform.
        We have to recognize that the fastest growing area of economic
    activity in the world is services, the one least disciplined by WTO
    rules. So when services negotiations are launched, I think it is
    essential to engage in wide-ranging discussions to ensure openness for
    dynamic service sectors, such as express delivery, environmental,
    energy, audiovisual, and professional services.
        We have to continue our strong momentum to dismantle industrial
    tariffs. A good place to start would be an agreement on the sectors from
    chemicals to environmental technology proposed by APEC. And we must move
    forward in strengthening intellectual property protection.
        These are my proposals for a 21st century trading system: one that
    is more open and accountable; one that listens to the voices of
    citizens; that works to protect the environment and lift the lives and
    incomes of ordinary people; one that is in sync with the information
    age; that promotes honest, effective government; and that makes better,
    faster decisions. In short, a trading system based on the new economy
    and old, enduring values. To move forward, I am inviting the trade
    ministers of the world to hold their next meeting in 1999 in the United
    States.
        I ask you to think about the opportunity that has been presented to
    all of us: the chance to create a new international economy in which
    open markets and open economies spark undreamed of innovation and
    prosperity; in which the skills of ordinary citizens power the
    prosperity of entire nations; in which the global economy honors those
    same values that guide families in raising their children and nations in
    developing good citizens; in which poor people, at last, find
    opportunity, dignity, and a decent life; in which increasing
    interdependence among nations enhances peace and security for all.
        This will be the world of the 21st century if we have the wisdom and
    determination, the courage, and the clarity of our forebears 50 years
    ago.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:48 p.m. at les Palais des Nations in a
    ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the General Agreement on
    Tariffs and Trade. In his remarks, he referred to Renato Ruggiero,
    Director General, World Trade Organization; Pascal Couchepin, Federal
    Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Public Economy of
    Switzerland; Sir Leon Brittan, Vice President of the European
    Commission; Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan; the Organization
    for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD); and the Asia-Pacific
    Economic Cooperation (APEC).