[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 21 (Monday, May 29, 2000)]
[Pages 1174-1175]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7310--World Trade Week, 2000

May 19, 2000

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    The prosperity the United States enjoys today is due, in no small 
part, to our strong trading relationships with other nations. The World 
Trade Organization, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and 270 
other agreements have helped us to open new markets for U.S. products 
and services, create thousands of new jobs, and keep our economy growing 
without inflation. The African Growth and Opportunity Act and the United 
States-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act that I signed into law this 
week will build on this progress by lowering trade barriers and 
strengthening our economic partnership with nations in sub-Saharan 
Africa and the Caribbean basin.
    The theme of World Trade Week this year, ``Working the Web of 
Trade,'' reflects the particular importance of the Internet as a new and 
rapidly accelerating factor in world

[[Page 1175]]

trade. The Internet holds enormous commercial potential and brings 
extraordinary opportunities directly into homes and workplaces across 
the United States and around the world. Linking businesses and consumers 
more quickly and directly than ever before, the worldwide web is a 
powerful tool, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, that allows even 
the smallest company to conduct business on a global scale.
    My Administration has worked hard to encourage America's businesses 
and workers to embrace this worldwide web of opportunity and its 
potential to enhance productivity at home and access to markets abroad. 
By investing in research and development, improving the quality of 
science and mathematics education in our schools, teaching workers new 
skills to fill jobs in the technology sector, and keeping e-commerce 
fair, safe, and competitive, we can stimulate our export industries, 
sustain this remarkable period of growth and prosperity, and ensure 
America's continued leadership in the global economy.
    This week, when the Congress takes up legislation to grant Permanent 
Normal Trade Relations status to the People's Republic of China, it will 
have an opportunity to further the progress we have made in building 
strong trading relationships. PNTR for China will increase America's 
competitiveness in the global marketplace, reduce tariffs, and give 
American workers and farmers unprecedented access to China's more than 
one billion consumers.
    World trade, whether conducted in person, on paper, or on line, 
remains a cornerstone of American economic growth. But even more 
important, trade plays a vital role in improving opportunity and 
prosperity around the globe. Free and fair international trade is one of 
the most effective tools we have to bring people together, raise living 
standards in developed and developing nations alike, promote human 
dignity, and improve long-term prospects for democracy, stability, and 
world peace.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 21 
through May 27, 2000, as World Trade Week. I invite the people of the 
United States to observe this week with events, trade shows, and 
educational programs that celebrate the benefits of international trade 
to our economy and our world.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day 
of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence of 
the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., May 23, 2000]

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 
24.