President of the U.S., 1993-2001; Former Democratic Governor (AR)
1999: Agreed on fair-trade clothing purchases from Cambodia
In 1999, my administration executed a unique trade agreement with Cambodia that gave U.S. clothing companies the opportunity to be fair trade purchasers. We promised greater access to the U.S. market if the Cambodian factories applied both local labor
laws and international labor standards, including a ban on forced labor and child labor--a big problem in factories in many developing nations. The International Labour
Organization agreed to monitor them and to help companies meet the standards and correct the problems. As a result of the agreement, working conditions vastly improved; employment skyrocketed, producing new jobs for 270,000 workers
(two-thirds of the industrial workforce); and exports to the United States increased 17 percent, through participating companies like Gap Inc., Nike, Sears, and others.
1993: NAFTA passed, but at a high price of dividing Dems
November offered two examples of sound policy and questionable politics. After Al Gore plainly bested Ross Perot in a heavily watched TV debate in NAFTA, it passed the House, 234-200. Three days later the Senate followed suit, 61-38.
Al and I had called or seen two hundred members of Congress, and the cabinet had made nine hundred calls. President Carter also helped, calling members of Congress all day long for a week.
We also had to make deals on a wide range of issues; the lobbying effort for NAFTA looked even more like sausage making than the budget fight had. Our whole team had won a great economic and political victory for
America, but like the budget, it came at a high price, dividing our party in Congress and infuriating many of our strongest supporters in the labor movement.
Assumed that economic globalization was inevitable
Clinton assumed that economic globalization was inevitable. He also believed in the classical theory of free trade: Lower tariffs would result in lower prices, greater exports, and a stronger economy. "it's so wonderful when an economic theory turns out
to be right," his Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers, would later crow; "The economic benefits of the tariff reductions we negotiated during the Clinton administration represents the largest tax cut in the history of the world."
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p. 79
, Feb 11, 2003
Our tariff reductions were largest tax cut in world history
Clinton assumed that economic globalization was inevitable. He also believed in the classical theory of free trade: Lower tariffs would result in lower prices, greater exports, and a stronger economy. Lawrence Summers,
Treasury Secretary, would later crow, "The economic benefits of the tariff reductions we negotiated during the Clinton administration represent the largest tax cut in the history of the world."
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p. 79
, Feb 11, 2003
Traditional borders challenged by new technologies
By 1998, the economic transformation he had long predicted--from the Industrial Age to the Information Age--was finally beginning to seem something more than rhetorical conceit. The national economy was behaving in ways that had seemed unimaginable a few
years earlier. Unemployment rates were plummeting while inflation rates remained at historic lows; prosperity was rising at all income levels (the incomes of households in the broad middle of the economic spectrum increased by a remarkable 35% during his
8 years in office). Traditional notions of time and space and borders were being challenged by new technologies--portable computers, the Internet, cell phones, satellite television--that were simultaneously transforming not only global marketplace,
but also the most routine ceremonies of middle-class life.
This was transformation, Clinton believed, similar to the development, at the beginning of the twentieth century, of a truly national economy dominated by vast corporate trusts.
The global economy is giving more of our own people and millions around the world the chance to work and live and raise their families with dignity. But the expansion of trade hasn’t fully closed the gap between those of us who live on the cutting edge
of the global economy and the billions around the world who live on the knife’s edge of survival. This global gap requires more than compassion. It requires action. Global poverty is a powder keg that could be ignited by our indifference.
Thomas Jefferson warned of entangling alliances. But in our times, America cannot and must not disentangle itself from the world. If we want the world to embody our shared values, then we must assume a shared responsibility.
We must embrace boldly and resolutely our duty to lead, to stand with our allies in word and deed and to put a human face on the global economy so that expanded trade benefits all peoples in all nations, lifting lives and hopes all across the world.
Source: President Clinton’s farewell address
, Jan 18, 2001
On balance, trade creates jobs
The globalization of the world economy has had profound effects on work, on workers, and on wages. Open markets mean products come into America that are made by people who work for wages Americans can’t live on. This can cost some American
workers their jobs and keep others from getting a raise.
But, overall, trade has brought vast benefits to most Americans. Jobs in exporting companies on average pay considerably higher wages than jobs in companies that sell only within the US.
Source: Between Hope and History, by Bill Clinton, p. 33-34
, Jan 1, 1996
Support NAFTA & GATT: build bridges, not walls
We don’t need to build walls, we need to build bridges. We don’t need protection, we need opportunity. But in a world of stiff competition we also need more than free trade. We need fair trade with fair rules.
That’s why I fought for NAFTA, which
effectively opened Mexico’s and Canada’s markets to American products, and for GATT, which is helping to level the playing field for American companies abroad.
In all, since 1992 we have negotiated more than 200 trade agreements-21 with Japan alone.
Source: Between Hope and History, by Bill Clinton, p. 34-35
, Jan 1, 1996
Spur reforms via PNTR and China in WTO
After 13 years of negotiations, the Administration concluded a landmark agreement for China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. China agreed to grant the U.S. significant new access to its rapidly growing market of over one billion people, while
we have agreed simply to maintain the market access policies we already apply to China by granting it permanent Normal Trade Relations. The U.S.-China agreement slashes Chinese tariffs on American goods; opens China’s markets to American services, and
contains safeguards against unfair trading practices. China’s membership in the WTO will spur economic reforms in China, open China to information and ideas from around the world, and strengthen the rule of law in China.
The Administration [also]
secured commitments from Asian Pacific nations to eliminate barriers to open trade in the region by 2020 for developing countries and 2010 for industrialized countries. Over the next two years, 15 sectors will be identified for tariff reductions.
Source: WhiteHouse.gov web site
, Jul 2, 2000
Fair trade will liberalize China
Fair trade among free markets does more than simply enrich America; it enriches all partners to each transaction. It raises consumer demand for our products worldwide; encourages investment & growth; lifts people out of poverty & ignorance; increases
understanding; and helps dispel long-held hatreds. That’s why we have worked so hard to help build free-market institutions in Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet republics. That’s why we have supported commercial liberalization in China-the
world’s fastest-growing market. Just as democracy helps make the world safe for commerce, commerce helps make the world safe for democracy. It’s a two-way street.
In the coming years, we must continue to negotiate to lower trade barriers and insist
that our trade partners play by fair trading rules. As we continue to work to open new markets, we must ensure the protection of our workers & our environment, as well as seek to advance labor and improve environmental conditions in developing countries.
Clinton adopted the manifesto, "A New Agenda for the New Decade":
Write New Rules for the Global Economy The rise of global markets has undermined the ability of national governments to control their own economies. The answer is neither global laissez faire nor protectionism but a Third Way: New international rules and institutions to ensure that globalization goes hand in hand with higher living standards, basic worker rights, and environmental protection. U.S. leadership is crucial in building a rules-based global trading system as well as international structures that enhance worker rights and the environment without killing trade. For example, instead of restricting trade, we should negotiate specific multilateral accords to deal with specific environmental threats.
Goals for 2010
Conclude a new round of trade liberalization under the auspices of the World Trade Organization.
Open the WTO, the World Bank, and International Monetary Fund to wider participation and scrutiny.
Strengthen the International Labor Organization’s power to enforce core labor rights, including the right of free association.
Launch a new series of multinational treaties to protect the world environment.
Source: The Hyde Park Declaration 00-DLC1 on Aug 1, 2000
Click here for definitions & background information on Free Trade.
