textfiles-politics/politicalTextFiles/trade.txt

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                     CLINTON/GORE ON TRADE


To win in global markets, America needs an economic
growth plan that provides every person and every
firm with the means to be more productive.  We need
a trade policy that puts people first by investing
in ourselves.  Bill Clinton and Al Gore's Nations
Economic Strategy invest in the ongoing education
of the American people, in the productive equipment
that gives our workers the tools to compete, and in
the economic infrastructure that binds our markets
and our business together. It also recognizes that
America needs companies that invest in the future,
profit from change and treat their workers as full
partners.

When our workers and firms do their part to be
competitive, we must have an Administration that
does its part to ensure that we have open markets
for their goods and services.  We need a new trade
and competitiveness program.  A Clinton/Gore
Administration will stand up for American workers
by standing up to countries that don't play by the
rules of free and fair trade.  Given a chance,
American farmers, workers and businesses can
out-compete anybody.


The Clinton/Gore Plan

Promote world growth

To promote world growth policies in the post-Cold
War era, we must be economically strong at home.
President Bush's weak economic record has deprived
him of the authority he needs to insist that Japan
adopt expansionary policies to reduce its $100
billion trade surplus, and to ensure that Germany's
high interest rates do not cripple growth
throughout Europe.  A Clinton/Gore Administration
will hold all advanced countries accountable for
doing their part to promote world trade, end unfair
trade practices and open markets.

Support a strong "Super 301"

This is the provision of U.S. trade law that has
helped pry open foreign markets.  Our competitors
must know that we won't stand for unfair trade
practices that prevent our farmers, workers and
businesses from selling products aborad and
creating jobs at home.  We have had plenty of empty
promises on trade; what we need now are results.

North American Free Trade Agreement

Bill Clinton will support a free trade treaty with
Mexico, but only if it has adequate protection for
workers, health and the environment on both sides
of the border.  A Clinton/Gore Administration will
support a free trade policy that puts people first.
We just have strong transition strategies that
ensure that workers benefit from a more open world
trading system.


General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

America needs leadership to break the logjam and
get the Uruguay Round finished.  President Bush's
ill-fated trip to Japan and his poor performance at
the G-7 summit demonstrate that our trade policies
suffer from a lack of Presidential leadership.
Bill Clinton and Al Gore will ensure that the
Uruguay Round opens markets for agriculture,
services and in particular manufacturing; protects
our intellectual property; and takes a tough stand
against unfair trade practices.  The United States
need to continue to promote free trade that aims to
raise - not lower - standards for health, safety,
and the environment.  No trade agreement should
preclude the United States from enforcing
non-discriminatory laws and regulations affecting
health, worker safety and the environment.  Bill
Clinton and Al Gore will not allow the Uruguay
round to alter U.S. laws and regulations through
the back door.

Economic Security Council

A Clinton/Gore Administration will create an
Economic Security Council, similar to the National
Security Council, to coordinate American
international economic policy.

MFN with China

The Bush Administration erred by extending Most
Favored Nation trade status to the People's
Republic of China before it achieved documented
progress on human rights.  We should not reward
China with improved trade status when it has
continued to trade goods made by prison labor and
has failed to make sufficient progress on human
rights since the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Reform the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Bill Clinton will issue an executive order banning
trade negotiators from cashing in on their
positions by serving as representatives of foreign
corporations or governments. He will rededicate the
Office of the Trade Representative to serving the
country - not selling out for lucrative lobbying
paychecks from foreign competitors.

Create a civilian DARPA

Bill Clinton and Al Gore will create a civilian
advanced technology agency modelled on the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  America
can no longer afford to get the Nobel Prizes while
our competitors get the profits.  A civilian
technology agency will bring businesses and
universities together to develop cutting-edge
products and technologies, to move our ideas into
the marketplace where they can create jobs for our
people.  The new agency will increase America's
commercial R&D spending, and focus its efforts in
crucial new technologies such as biotechnology,
robotics, high speed computing and environmental
technology.

Incentives for manufacturing innovation

*    Provide a targeted investment tax credit to
     encourage investment in the new plants and
     productive equipment that we need here at home
     to compete in the global economy.

*    Make permanent the research and development
     tax credit to reward companies that invest in
     ground-technologies.

*    Help small businesses and entrepreneurs by
     offering a 50 percent tax exclusion to those
     who take risks by making long-term investments
     in new businesses.

Standing up for America's workers

*    Require every employer to spend 1.5 percent of
     payroll for continued education and training,
     and make them provide the training to all
     workers, not just executives.

*    Bring business, labor, and education leaders
     together to develop a national apprenticeship
     program that offers non-college bound students
     training in valuable skills.

*    Provide all Americans with affordable, quality
     health care.

*    Limit deductions for outrageous executive pay.
     Companies will be allowed to deduct bonuses
     for employee ownership and profit sharing for
     all employees, no just executives.

*    End tax breaks for American companies that
     shut down their plants here and ship American
     jobs overseas.


The Record

*    From 1979 to 1991, there was 142 percent
     increase in the number of Arkansas companies
     exporting products.  Nearly 75 percent of
     those companies had less than 200 employees.

*    Bill Clinton made numerous trade missions to
     Europe and Asia to negotiate expanded markets
     for Arkansas products.

*    Senator Gore has insisted that other
     governments dismantle barriers which unfairly
     block access to their markets.

*    Gore does no believe the long-term solution to
     our country's competitiveness problem is a
     blanket policy of protectionism.  Senator Gore
     has fought to invest in the research and
     development of new technologies, to rebuild
     our crumbling infrastructure, to better
     educate our children and to retrain our
     workers.

*    Senator Gore introduced and steered into law
     the High Performance Computing Act of 1990, to
     create a national high- speed computers, and
     making those computers accessible to people
     who otherwise would not be able to take
     advantage of their power and speed.  It was
     the result of more than a dozen years of work
     by Gore.

*    Gore joined a number of his Senate colleagues
     in June 1991 to introduce comprehensive
     package of legislation to strengthen our
     manufacturing base.  They will help us
     establish a federal manufacturing policy to
     develop and commercialize critical
     technologies and sharpen our ability to turn
     inventions into affordable, usable products.

*    Gore supported the fast-track process for the
     negotiation of a U.S. Mexico Free Trade
     Agreement, but final approval of NAFTA is
     dependent on its protection of American
     workers and support of enforceable
     environmental standards.