Clinton Urges Congress to Stick with WTO

Mike Godfrey, Tax-news.com, Washington

07 March 2000

In a knee-jerk reaction to last week's World Trade Organisation ruling against the US Foreign Sales Corporations scheme, isolationist elements in Congress have proposed new legislation that would force the United States to withdraw from the WTO. The Congress needs to approve continued US participation this spring; but once every five years a legislative challenge is allowed as a separate bill. In all probability this is a sub-plot in the saga of China's application to join the WTO, and may generate plenty of sound-bites, but won't eventually get anywhere.

President Clinton and his administration are urging Washingon lawmakers to let common sense prevail and stick by the WTO despite its unpopularity in the US. US Trade Representative Charlene Barshevsky said that the US had won 23 out of 25 of its cases before the WTO. But, she explained: "You have many members of Congress proud of the fact that they never held a passport. That's a little bit like being proud of the fact you've never read a book"

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