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environment, and safeguards against import surges. Addressing 

 these concerns does not mean re-opening the NAFTA text. Our goal 

 is rather to negotiate the necessary supplemental agreements and 

 to work with Congress to develop implementing legislation so that 

 the NAFTA, the supplemental agreements and domestic measures can 

 be in place by January 1, 1994. 



Today our negotiators, led by Ambassador Rufus Yerxa, 

 begin the process of negotiating the supplemental agreements to 

 which the President is committed. These supplemental agreements 

 must break new ground in finding ways to help raise worker 

 standards and environmental protection; in these areas we are 

 committed to agreements that harmonize upward, not downward. In 

 these negotiations we will be dealing with issues, and fashioning 

 provisions, that have never been part of a trade agreement. For 

 example, President Clinton is committed to the creation of a 

 tri-national commission on the environment and I look forward to 

 hearing further views from the Committee on how such a commission 

 might work. I am also aware of this Committee's concerns about 

 adequate provisions to address surges of agricultural imports. 

 With regard to import surges, we are not looking to change the 

 mechanisms in NAFTA, but rather want to ensure that these 

 provisions can be effectively and fairly used. 



We will not sacrifice substance for speed; we will not 

 ask you to vote on NAFTA until the supplemental agreements are 

 completed and you can judge how they strengthen the NAFTA. This 

 Administration will not come to the Congress for approval of the 

 NAFTA without supplemental agreements that have real teeth, 

 meaningfully advance their objectives, are concrete, and contain 

 serious commitments. 



An enhanced NAFTA package can contribute to the ability 

 of our farmers to compete at home and abroad and can help improve 

 working conditions, living standards, and environmental quality 

 throughout North America. After Japan, Canada and Mexico are our 

 second and third largest markets for U.S. agricultural exports. 

 Since 1986, U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico have nearly 

 quadrupled, climbing to almost $4 billion in 1992 and 

 establishing Mexico as our fastest growing export market for 

 farm-produced goods. In fact, our two neighbors accounted for 

 more than 20 percent ($8 billion) of U.S. agricultural exports in 

 1992. 



The NAFTA contains separate bilateral undertakings on 

 cross-border trade in agricultural products, one between Canada 

 and Mexico, and the other between Mexico and the United States. 

 As a general matter, the rules of the U.S. -Canada Free-Trade 

 Agreement (FTA) on tariff and non-tariff barriers will continue 

 to apply to agricultural trade between Canada and the United 

 States. 



