By MICHAEL HOWIE / Feedstuffs Staff Editor
PALM SPRINGS, CAL. -- Trade impediments make "no economic sense" in the world we live in today, and "we ought to get them behind us," said Clayton Yeutter in a presentation to the National Renderers Assn. and World Renderers Congress two weeks ago.
Yeutter, a former ambassador, trade representative and agriculture secretary, said the globalization of economies and world markets is behind the need to eliminate trade barriers, and that "we're not about to turn back the clock."
He said stopping globalization would be like going back to the horse and buggy -- "to days that are behind us" -- and that cannot be done.
Not only do trade impediments make no sense, but trade concessions don't either, said Yeutter. He said the word "concessions" implies that one side in trade talks lost or that another negotiated better. In some cases, he said, the term can imply that countries are protecting their markets.
In reality, he said, as part of trade negotiations, the purpose and goal should be for both sides to walk away from the table with something that both need to feel the situation was "win-win."
When the term concession is used, it is interpreted as a negative thing, even if both sides really achieved what they wanted, said Yeutter.
Also, Yeutter added, even though trade talks may result in a win-win situation for both sides, not everybody may win. In many cases, he said, some business somewhere may suffer as a result of various trade agreements but, he added, "many, many more will win than lose."
As U.S. Trade Representative between 1985 and 1988, Yeutter helped launch both the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade as well as the U.S.-Canada free trade agreement. He said both of those agreements were important but that the next step of trade talks is needed to make it to the next level.
As for the current trade situation, Yeutter said China and Taiwan must make it into the World Trade Organization (WTO) as soon as possible.
China is almost there, as the U.S. and European Union have done a good job in the negotiation process, he said. Hopefully, after talks with Mexico are completed, the negotiations will be complete and China will be accepted by the end of the year, he said.
Taiwan must then be accepted into WTO as soon as possible after China, he said -- "within five minutes or at least 24 hours." If China makes it in and there is a significant delay, he said, "all hell will break loose" because China may try to "torpedo" Taiwan's approval process.
As soon as China and Taiwan are accepted into WTO, he said, a new trade round must be launched -- even though it will be extremely difficult to get 150 countries to agree to meet and discuss various issues.
To get the round launched, he said, some things will have to change. For example, he said, "you don't want to go to Seattle (Wash.) again or anyplace that is as easily accessible as Seattle." He said it is fine for people to protest but that protestors should not have a seat at the table and should discuss their concerns with their own representatives.
One idea, he said, is that maybe trade ministers don't have to meet at all. "Everyone has representatives in Geneva (Switzerland)," he said, and they could hold the meetings and using modern communication, discuss details with trade ministers in their own country.
Even if there were no protestors at the Seattle Round, he said, it was doubtful anything would have been accomplished.
For example, he said, the U.S. came to the talks with a very narrow agenda, while the EU came with a broad agenda. He said it is very difficult to hold talks with a narrow agenda, because "you need a lot of things on the table in order to have some negotiation room."
In addition, he said, when President Bill Clinton made a speech at the meetings that trade sanctions should be used in regard to worker rights and environmental issues, "all the third world countries got up and left." Essentially, said Yeutter, "the meeting was over at that point."
Yeutter said third world countries felt they did not walk away from the Uruguay Round of talks with as many benefits as the first world countries. "You can tell these third world countries are not going to take that again," he said, adding that it is important that such countries' needs are taken care of, that they feel they, too, are benefiting.
In addition, he said, the U.S. and other countries must understand the political situation within the EU and the difficulty it will present in reducing export subsidies and producer supports. However, he added, those same items must be eliminated in the U.S. as well.
At the end of the next round, he said, "we should be able to say that export subsidies will not exist ever again."
Although items such as export subsidies will be difficult, he said, opening up countries -- allowing access -- by bringing tariff levels down and evening them out across various products is a must and is "most important." Items such as tariff rate quotas and similar projectionist items "need some attention," said Yeutter, explaining that if such items can be handled -- either reduced significantly or eliminated -- there will be many benefits.
Food safety
At the next round of talks, attempts will be made to alter the sanitary-phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, which has become the "food safety" agreement, said Yeutter. He said some countries and non-government organizations will attempt to "soften the sound science" system currently in place for SPS. "Such a change would be very dangerous," he said.
"Once you leave sound science behind and allow other criteria to influence decisions," only bad things can happen, he said. Such a move would take away the non-subjective procedures in place now.
SPS has been a very difficult arena, he said, because each country seems to have a different set of rules to follow. "We need to harmonize things," Yeutter said, which would automatically eliminate many of the current complaints and disputes before WTO.
WTO is getting overwhelmed by all the disputes, and as the bureaucratic process gets larger, "only lawyers will become rich but nothing will be solved," said Yeutter, who is himself a lawyer with Hogan & Hartson.
Copyright 2000, The Miller Publishing Company, a company of Rural Press Ltd.:
