[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 21 (Monday, May 26, 1997)]
[Pages 743-744]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7004--World Trade Week, 1997

May 19, 1997

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Two statistics sum up both the challenge and the promise of today's 
dynamic global economy: 95 percent of the world's consumers live outside 
the United States, and U.S. exports generated more than $830 billion in 
sales in 1996. The theme of this year's World Trade Week, ``Make 
Locally, Sell Globally,'' exhorts American businesses to take advantage 
of the enormous commercial potential of the international marketplace, 
and we are poised to do so.
    Over the past 4 years, trade has spurred more than a quarter of our 
overall domestic economic growth. During this period, the United States 
under the leadership of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative 
signed more than 200 new trade agreements and is once again the world's 
leading exporter. In recent months, we have concluded historic 
agreements in the World Trade Organization that opened up the world 
telecommunications services market to U.S. firms. We also have 
negotiated a pact that will eliminate tariffs on information technology 
products by the year 2000. Together, these agreements offer American 
business better access to markets representing more than $1 trillion in 
goods and services and are models for further market-opening 
initiatives.
    The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has not only 
increased trade with our member partners to a level of $425 billion 
annually, but also has provided greater stability to the global economy. 
We are committed to building on this success by achieving a Free Trade 
Area of the Americas, and we look toward a comprehensive trade agreement 
with Chile as the next concrete step in this direction.
    Selling globally also requires vigorous trade enforcement efforts, 
such as those we initiated recently by improving the protection of 
intellectual property rights in China and some 20 other countries around 
the world. Our ongoing efforts to eliminate trade barriers in Asia have 
already paid dividends--for example, U.S. exports to Japan have grown by 
more than 40 percent since 1993. We will also continue to strictly 
enforce existing trade laws to ensure that imported goods in U.S. 
markets do not enjoy an unfair advantage over those produced by U.S. 
companies and workers.
    We are committed to helping all U.S. businesses continue to 
succeed--not only by opening markets, but also by assisting U.S. 
exporters. My Administration, through the efforts of the Trade Promotion 
Coordinating Committee, has developed a National Export Strategy to help 
small- and medium-size companies sell globally to realize their export 
potential. Our nationwide network of U.S. Export Assistance Centers 
combines under one roof the services of the Department of Commerce, the 
Small Business Administration, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and other 
agencies to improve business access to trade information and financing. 
Over the past 4 years, this network has more than doubled the amount of 
export sales it facilitates. Our finance agencies, the U.S. Export-
Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the Trade 
and Development Agency, also help American businesses compete on a level 
playing field in this increasingly competitive world economy.
    We can be proud of this record of achievement, but we must build on 
it. Fair trade and open markets create stable economies in which 
democracy can take root and flourish. The United States alone has the 
legacy, the resources, and the responsibility to lead the world in this 
endeavor, and we must continue to do so.
    As we observe World Trade Week, 1997, I am confident that, working 
together, we can sustain America's leadership in the global economy, 
generate millions of new jobs, and improve the quality of life for all 
our people.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by

[[Page 744]]

the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 
18 through May 24, 1997, as World Trade Week. I invite the people of the 
United States to observe this week with ceremonies, activities, and 
programs that celebrate the potential of international trade.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day 
of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-first.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., May 21, 1997]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on May 20, and it was published in the Federal Register on May 
22.