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Economic Report of the President 1994 - The American Presidency ...

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ers. Progress in textiles and apparel was particularly significant.For decades, international trade in textiles and apparelproducts has effectively been exempted from GATT rules. Instead,<strong>the</strong> Multi-Fiber Arrangement establishes a procedure forlimiting textile and apparel exports from developing to industrialcountries. Under <strong>the</strong> final Uruguay Round agreement,products covered by <strong>the</strong> Multi-Fiber Arrangement will be free<strong>of</strong> quotas after 10 years, and textiles will be integrated intogeneral GATT rules. Tariffs will be reduced as well.Throughout <strong>the</strong> Uruguay Round negotiations, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mostcontentious issues was agricultural trade liberalization. <strong>The</strong> finalagreement on agriculture streng<strong>the</strong>ns <strong>the</strong> long-term rules for agriculturaltrade and sharply limits national policies that distort thattrade. U.S. agricultural exports will benefit significantly from reductionsin foreign export subsidies and from market opening byour trading partners.<strong>The</strong> United States was successful in its effort to obtain meaningfulrules and explicit commitments to reduce export subsidies, cutdomestic subsidies, and increase market access. Agricultural exportsubsidies and trade-distorting domestic farm subsidies are not onlyto be reduced, but for <strong>the</strong> first time will be subject to explicit multilateraldisciplines. <strong>The</strong> United States also prevailed in establishing<strong>the</strong> principle <strong>of</strong> comprehensive tariffication, which will lead to <strong>the</strong>eventual removal <strong>of</strong> all import quotas and o<strong>the</strong>r nontariff importbarriers. Nontariff barriers will first be replaced by tariffs, ensuringminimum or current access, and <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>se tariffs will graduallybe reduced.Progress in creating a more hospitable trading system for hightechnologyproducts was achieved on two fronts. First, <strong>the</strong> UnitedStates was able to win greater protection for intellectual propertyrights, such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks. This is veryimportant for a diverse set <strong>of</strong> U.S. industries, including <strong>the</strong> electronicsindustry (where semiconductor masks will be protected), <strong>the</strong>pharmaceutical industry (patents), and <strong>the</strong> communications industry(protection <strong>of</strong> copyrights).Second, <strong>the</strong> Uruguay Round agreement sets forth multilateralrules governing subsidies. Because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> beneficial social spilloversassociated with research and development activities, governmentsupport cannot and should not be ruled out altoge<strong>the</strong>r. <strong>The</strong> challengefor <strong>the</strong> multilateral trading system is to find rules that permitgovernments to support innovations that benefit all nationswhile precluding rent-shifting subsidies designed to benefit one nationat <strong>the</strong> expense <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs. <strong>The</strong> Uruguay Round agreementmakes progress in this respect by establishing clearer rules andstronger disciplines in <strong>the</strong> subsidies area. It also makesnonactionable certain subsidies relating to basic research, regional235

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