The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:20 a.m., in room 1100, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. (Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding. [The advisory announcing the hearing follows:] Philip M. Crane (1) ADVISORY FROM THE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRADE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: (202) 225-1721 July 8, 1999 No. TR-13 Crane Announces Hearing on United States Negotiating Objectives for the WTO Seattle Ministerial Meeting Congressman Philip M. Crane (R-IL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on United States negotiating objectives for the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial. The hearing will take place on Thursday, August 5, 1999, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Oral testimony at the hearing will be from both invited and public witnesses. Invited witnesses will include Ambassador Susan Esserman, Deputy United States Trade Representative. Also, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing. BACKGROUND: The Uruguay Round was the eighth round or series of multilateral trade negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The agreements reached at the end of 1994 during the Uruguay Round were noteworthy in that they greatly expanded coverage of GATT rules beyond manufactured goods trade to include agricultural trade, services trade, trade-related investment measures, intellectual property rights, and textiles. One of the most visible accomplishments of this multilateral round was to establish the WTO to administer the GATT agreements and to settle disputes among WTO members. The Uruguay Round agreement also calls for the resumption of negotiations by the year 2000 to further liberalize trade in agriculture and services, as well as examine government procurement practices and enforcement of intellectual property rights. The negotiations will begin formally at the WTO Ministerial conference to be hosted by the United States in Seattle, Washington, from November 30 through December 4, 1999. It will be the largest trade event ever held in the United States and will bring together representatives of the 133 member countries of the WTO. The members will consider the procedures and substance of the so-called "built-in" WTO agenda, as well as other issues such as transparency and possible reforms to the dispute settlement system. In announcing the hearing, Chairman Crane said: "The Seattle Ministerial meeting represents a much needed opportunity for U.S. workers and businesses. It holds the promise of renewing momentum to reduce the continuing barriers facing U.S. agricultural, goods, and services exports. It is important that Congress monitor the development of United States negotiating objectives for the Seattle Ministerial, as well as the adequacy of logistical and other preparations for this historic event." FOCUS OF THE HEARING: The focus of the hearing will be to examine United States preparations for the Seattle Ministerial Meeting. Testimony will be received on specific objectives for the negotiations, the outlook for a successful meeting, and the anticipated impact of launching a new round of WTO negotiations on jobs, wages, economic opportunity, and the future competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers and service providers. DETAILS FOR SUBMISSIONS OF REQUESTS TO BE HEARD: Requests to be heard at the hearing must be made by telephone to Traci Altman or Pete Davila at (202) 225-1721 no later than the close of business, Monday, July 26, 1999. The telephone request should be followed by a formal written request to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. The staff of the Subcommittee on Trade will notify by telephone those scheduled to appear as soon as possible after the filing deadline. Any questions concerning a scheduled appearance should be directed to the Subcommittee on Trade staff at (202) 225-6649. In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, the Subcommittee may not be able to accommodate all requests to be heard. Those persons and organizations not scheduled for an oral appearance are encouraged to submit written statements for the record of the hearing. All persons requesting to be heard, whether they are scheduled for oral testimony or not, will be notified as soon as possible after the filing deadline. Witnesses scheduled to present oral testimony are required to summarize briefly their written statements in no more than five minutes. THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. The full written statement of each witness will be included in the printed record, in accordance with House Rules. In order to assure the most productive use of the limited amount of time available to question witnesses, all witnesses scheduled to appear before the Subcommittee are required to submit 200 copies, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, of their prepared statement for review by Members prior to the hearing. Testimony should arrive at the Subcommittee on Trade office, room 1104 Longworth House Office Building, no later than Tuesday, August 3, 1999. Failure to do so may result in the witness being denied the opportunity to testify in person. WRITTEN STATEMENTS IN LIEU OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE: Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Thursday, August 19, 1999, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Trade office, room 1104 Longworth House Office Building, by close of business the day before the hearing. FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS: Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee. 1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record. 2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee. 3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears. 4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record. The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms. Note: All Committee advisories and news releases are available on the World Wide Web at "HTTP://WWW.HOUSE.GOV/WAYS_MEANS/"”. The Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please call 202-225-1721 or 202-226– 3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event (four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to special accommodation needs in general (including availability of Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the Committee as noted above. Chairman CRANE. We are going to have a series of interruptions today with a heavy legislative schedule, and so I think it is essential that we commence. Our first panel consists of our colleagues, Jerry Weller, Xavier Becerra, Ralph Regula, Dan Miller and Jack Quinn. But before you fellows testify, I want to welcome everyone here this morning. The Trade Subcommittee meeting today is to consider the U.S. negotiating objectives for the WTO, World Trade Organization, ministerial meeting that will be held in Seattle, Washington, from November 30 until December 3 of this year, and the Trade Subcommittee intends to be out there for part of that ministerial meeting before heading to the Far East. Today, we intend to have an open give-and-take regarding what U.S. priorities should be for this important meeting, the first of its kind to be held in the United States. As my colleagues know, I am a strong supporter of the WTO. I think I can speak for most of my colleagues here when I say that we are fully supportive of achieving a successful launch of a new round of world trade negotiations in Seattle. A consensus seems to have emerged among our trading partners that the new round should be concluded within 3 years, by the end of 2002. While comfortable with the shorter timeframe, I recognize that these will be tough negotiations given the intractable problems that the U.S. and other countries have with Europe and Japan in the agriculture and other sectors. Since its establishment in 1995, the WTO has functioned effectively, aiding our efforts to ensure that job-creating U.S. exports are receiving fair access to 134 nations around the world. As the world's greatest exporter, the best engine for our impressive eco |