Bill Clinton photo

Remarks on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

November 23, 1994

Good morning. Today we have moved one step closer toward gaining broad bipartisan support for GATT. I'm pleased to announce that an understanding has been reached with Senator Dole to reaffirm our United States sovereignty and to make sure that the reaffirmation will be protected in the GATT process. That means that the WTO will be accountable and fair and will meet our expectations.

The Uruguay round is the largest, most comprehensive trade agreement in world history. It creates hundreds of thousands of high-paying American jobs. It slashes tariffs on manufactured and agricultural goods. It protects intellectual property. It's the largest international tax cut in history. Most importantly, this agreement requires all trading nations to play by the same rules. And since the United States has the most productive and competitive economy in the world, that is good news for our workers and our future.

For the past 50 years, our country has led the world to create a more open and a more prosperous trading economy. A bipartisan vote in support of the Uruguay round next week will ensure that we will lead the world for decades to come.

I want to express my deep thanks to Senator Dole, to Senator Packwood, Senator Moynihan, who are here, and ask them to speak. I thank Ambassador Kantor for his heroic work in this endeavor and the Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State for what they have done. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury and I are going to have to excuse ourselves to go meet with the Mexican Presidentelect, President Zedillo.

I also want to make a brief announcement today. As part of our ongoing nonproliferation efforts, Kazakhstan has delivered into our security nuclear materials capable of making some 20 nuclear weapons. That means that one more threat of nuclear terrorism and proliferation has been removed from the world. Today—this is a good day—we are making progress toward making our people more secure and more prosperous.

Again, let me say how excited I am about the prospect of the GATT round passing the Congress and to express my appreciation to Senator Dole for the very constructive working relationship that we have had. I'd like now to excuse the Secretary of State and Secretary of Treasury and ask the others who are here to make some comments, beginning with Senator Dole.

Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 12:07 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House.

William J. Clinton, Remarks on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/218661

Filed Under

Categories

Location

Washington, DC

Simple Search of Our Archives