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The U.S. -Mexico agreement on market access represents a 

 significant change in the status quo. Upon implementation of the 

 NAFTA, tariffs and tariff-rate quotas will replace current non- 

 tariff barriers in U.S. -Mexico agricultural trade. Roughly one- 

 half of U.S. -Mexico trade will be duty free at the moment the 

 agreement goes into effect. Nine years later, all agricultural 

 tariffs between the United States and Mexico will be eliminated, 

 except duties on certain highly sensitive products. Barriers on 

 U.S. imports of sugar, peanuts, orange juice and a few fruits and 

 vegetables will not be eliminated until the fourteenth year after 

 the Agreement takes effect. At the same time, Mexico will 

 eliminate its barriers on corn, dry beans, powdered milk, sugar 

 and orange juice. The bottom line is that the NAFTA should give 

 U.S. agricultural producers significant opportunity in our 

 fastest growing export market. We expect particular benefits for 

 our exports of beef, pork, poultry, eggs, dairy products, grains 

 and oilseeds. 



The NAFTA also contains strong provisions, in Chapter 7, 

 safeguarding the ability of our federal and state governments to 

 set the standards they deem appropriate to limit exposure to 

 pesticide residues and other additives and contaminants. 



The Urucruay Round . President Clinton is committed to 

 the successful completion of the Uruguay Round of multilateral 

 trade negotiations which has been on-going since 1986. My 

 predecessors expended enormous effort for six years to obtain 

 acceptable Uruguay Round agreements. However, several complex 

 issues remain to be resolved. The Clinton Administration, in 

 consultation with the private sector and Congress, is assessing 

 the accomplishments to date, and focusing on the remaining 

 obstacles to be overcome before the Round is completed. I think 

 we can complete the Round in a way that will benefit the United 

 States and the world economy, but based on our discussions to 

 date, I do not believe that we were as close to completion as 

 some reported in early January. When the EC Trade Minister, Sir 

 Leon Brittan, was here in February, I told him that our goal was 

 a good agreement, not just a quick one. 



The Administration is carefully reviewing the agreement 

 on internal support and export subsidies reached between the 

 United States and the EC at Blair House last November, and we 

 must resolve with the EC a number of questions regarding the 

 implementation by the EC of that agreement and the draft Uruguay 

 Round text on agriculture. 



The question of whether we can conclude an agreement 

 depends very much on the market access commitments for goods and 

 services that are still being negotiated. If we obtain good 

 results on market access -- cutting tariffs, breaking down non- 

 tariff barriers — the Round will offer significant potential 

 benefits for the American farm community. The Department of 



