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TESTIMONY OF AMBASSADOR MICKEY KANTOR, 

 UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

 BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE 

 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



March 17, 1993 



Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to appear 

 before the Coiranittee today to discuss a strengthened North 

 American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the on-going Uruguay 

 Round of multilateral trade negotiations. This is my first 

 appearance before this Committee, and I welcome the occasion to 

 become more familiar with your concerns and those of other 

 members of the Committee. 



I want to thank you, in particular, Mr. Chairman, for 

 your suggestions for a North American Commission on the 

 Environment and subcommissions to address specific transborder 

 environmental problems. I appreciate your work on the complex 

 problems facing the U.S. -Mexico border area and the Gulf of 

 Mexico. I hope that we will have many opportunities to work 

 together on these issues in the months ahead to find creative 

 solutions. 



This morning I would like to place the NAFTA and the 

 Uruguay Round in the broader context of the President's vision of 

 economic growth in America based on expanded trade and market 

 opening: competing in, not retreating from, the global economy. 

 Then I would like to address specifically some of the 

 agricultural trade issues currently facing us. 



The trade policy of this Administration starts from the 

 same point as its economic policy does: our prosperity and that 

 of our children depend on our ability to compete and win in the 

 global market. Where trade policy is concerned, the United 

 States will continue to champion open markets and expanded trade, 

 but we will insist that the markets of other nations be open to 

 our products and services — especially U.S. farm exports. 



Opening foreign markets is the impetus, from our 

 standpoint, for the NAFTA, and our main objective in the Uruguay 

 Round. Market access will also be a principal focus of our 

 bilateral efforts with respect to many nations around the world. 

 We see our prosperity bound up with the prosperity of our trading 

 partners — especially in Canada, Europe, Japan and Mexico. We 

 will work with them to promote global growth, aid the development 

 of other less prosperous nations, and address the emerging issue 

 of environmental protection. 



NAFTA. President Clinton has consistently affirmed his 

 support for the NAFTA, provided it is accompanied by effective 

 U.S. domestic policies and supplemented by domestic actions and 

 supplemental agreements to address concerns regarding labor, the 



