Global Policy Forum

By Anne Gearan

A Clinton administration report sent to Congress on Thursday concludes that after five years, the World Trade Organization has proved a good deal for the United States. "The WTO has been at the leading edge of our strategy to capitalize on American technological leadership as we build the economy of the 21st century," the report said. The 400-page report from Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky was required by Congress, which will likely debate the future of U.S. membership in the global trade regulating body this year.

Critics, however, quickly denounced the document for not highlighting what they contend are the considerable failings of the Geneva-based organization that sets the rules for world trade. "The Clinton administration is trying to paper over the WTO's record of weakening environmental, food safety and labor standards, but it is long on spin and short on facts," said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, one of the groups that organized massive protests against the WTO in Seattle last December.

The report finds that in the five years since the WTO was founded, the number of jobs supported by U.S. exports has increased by 1.4 million to 11.7 million. It also calculates that in the same period the number of U.S. jobs grew by 14 million and unemployment dropped to its lowest point in three decades. Also, U.S. exports rose by more than a third between 1994 and 1999, despite a financial crisis in Asia and other economic woes abroad. Finally, the administration report concluded that commitment to open markets under the WTO has yielded lower prices on everyday goods and increased Americans' purchasing power by as much as $4,000 annually for a family of four.

"The WTO has been an institution of great practical economic benefit to Americans and to our trading partners," Barshefsky said in a speech Thursday highlighting the report. The progress report was a condition of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, the legislation that created the WTO in 1995. The WTO governs trade among all member nations, and its decisions are binding. After receiving the report, any member of Congress can propose withdrawing support for continued U.S. membership in the WTO Congress then has 90 days to act. Given the amount of opposition to some WTO decisions, the administration expects a vote this year.

Not highlighted in the administration's report, but certain to be cited by critics, is the soaring U.S. trade deficit over the past five years. The deficit hit a record $271.3 billion in 1999, more than $100 billion above the previous mark of $164.3 billion, set in 1998. The administration blames the supercharged U.S. economy and strong consumer spending for drawing in record imports. Critics contend the widening deficits are a sign of the failure of the administration's trade policies, which have emphasized big market-opening trade deals with other countries, such as the trade agreement with China now pending before Congress.

Reacting to the administration's report, supporters of the WTO said that U.S. farmers and businesses had benefited from U.S. membership in the organization. "History tells us that no major advances in trade were made this century without the leadership of the United States," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-Texas. "And if American farmers and workers are to compete and win in the international marketplace, we must have a seat at the table and continue to play an active role in setting the rules every trading partner will follow."

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