[Page: S5312]
Mr. ROTH (for himself, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Packwood, Mr. McCain, Mr. Symms, Mr. Murkowski, Mr. Boren, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. Danforth, Mr. Graham, Mr. Gorton, Mr. Heflin, Mr. Dole, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Rudman, Mr. Sanford, Mr. Johnston, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Wallop, Mr. Gore, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Simon, Mr. Lugar, Mr. Coats, Mr. Helms, Mr. Dixon, Mr. Mack, and Mr. Durenberger) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance.
S. Res. 116
Whereas on January 1, 1990, the Government of Taiwan formally requested the Secretariat of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to initiate the procedure necessary for its accession to the GATT;
Whereas the Government of Taiwan has applied for membership in the GATT as a separate customs territory under GATT Article XXXIII under the name `The Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu', to ensure that its application includes only those areas where the Government of Taiwan currently possesses full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations;
Whereas Taiwan is a significant participant in the global economy, being the thirteenth largest trading entity and maintaining the second largest foreign exchange reserves in the world, and is one of the last major market-based economies that is noticeably absent from the GATT;
Whereas the United States and Taiwan maintain an important bilateral trading relationship, with Taiwan being the sixth largest trading partner of the United States and the United States being the second largest exporter to Taiwan;
Whereas Taiwan has made substantial progress in its economic development, and has taken steps to open up its economy, including lowering its average tariff rates, reducing its barriers to foreign investment, and increasing its protection of intellectual property rights;
Whereas the United States supports additional action by Taiwan to provide full open market access to United States goods and services and to ensure that United States intellectual property rights are fully enforced, and Taiwan's continued progress in these and other areas is mutually beneficial to the United States and Taiwan;
Whereas the GATT is the premier multilateral body for regulating trade worldwide, and the United States and 100 other contracting parties of the GATT are in the final stages of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, which is the most ambitious effort ever undertaken by the GATT to expand, strengthen, and revitalize multilateral trade rules and principles;
Whereas the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round will establish multilateral and enforceable disciplines in key
areas affecting bilateral trade between the United States and Taiwan, including the areas of services, intellectual property rights, and agriculture;
Whereas Taiwan currently adheres to the guiding principles of the GATT on a de facto basis, is expressly committed to assuming greater international economic responsibility by its willingness to accede to the GATT as a developed economy, and has indicated its desire to join formally with other GATT contracting parties implementing the final results of the Uruguay Round; and
Whereas Taiwan's membership in the GATT will foster the further liberalization of Taiwan's economy along GATT lines, will serve as an exemplary model for other developing countries, will allow key United States-Taiwan trade issues to be addressed in the multilateral context, and will contribute to the overall strengthening of GATT rules of trade and of the GATT as an institution: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) the accession of Taiwan to the GATT is in the the best economic interest of the United States and of the world trading system as a whole and should be achieved in an expeditious manner; and
(2) the Government of the United States should fully support Taiwan's accession to the GATT by requesting that the GATT Secretariat place Taiwan's accession request on the agenda of the next GATT Council meeting, by seeking the formation of a GATT Working Party, and by taking any additional steps deemed necessary to assure Taiwan's prompt membership in the GATT.
- [End insert]
The same compelling case exists in support of Taiwan's GATT membership. Taiwan is not only the 13th largest trading entity worldwide, it is also the largest market-based economy that remains outside of the GATT's ambit. From the perspective of the United States, Taiwan is one of our most important trading partners, ranking as our sixth largest. Clearly, such a key U.S. trading partner and major participant in the world economy should be part of our multilateral system of trade rules and principles.
Taiwan has moved in the direction of opening its economy to the forces of worldwide competition, but many more steps need to be taken. While bilateral trade negotiations will continue to play an important role in eliminating specific trade barriers to United States exports to Taiwan, accession to the GATT provides the greatest opportunity for across-the-board market opening measures in Taiwan. For example, a successful conclusion to the Uruguay round will create strong new multilateral rules and market openings in services, intellectual property rights and agriculture--three areas where Taiwan's economy still remains relatively closed. Failure to accord Taiwan GATT membership means that there would be no guarantee that Taiwan would adopt these and other ambitious trade-liberalizing measures agreed to in the Uruguay round.
One of the most noteworthy aspects of Taiwan's request to join the GATT is that it is expressly willing to do so as a developed economy. This goes to the heart of what is popularly referred to as the `free rider' problem--the serious imbalance in GATT obligations between developing and developed countries. An important cause of this imbalance is the fact that developing countries are provided sweeping exemptions from GATT rules and principles, such as those allowed under article XVIII for balance-of-payments reasons. By joining as a developed economic entity, Taiwan would not only become a full and responsible participant in the GATT, it would also be the first newly industrialized country to formally adopt developed economic status. In so doing, Taiwan would serve as a positive and constructive role model for other developing countries.
Since the submission of Taiwan's GATT application, four countries, Tunisia, Bolivia, Costa Rica and Venezuela, have become full contracting parties to the GATT. At least four additional countries are actively in the process of joining. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Taiwan, the 13th largest economy in the world. In fact, the GATT Council has taken no action on Taiwan's accession request since it was first made in January 1990, despite the overwhelming merits of Taiwan's application and the Council's standard practice of promptly placing accession requests on its agenda.
While I fully understand the political sensitivities involved in bringing Taiwan under the GATT umbrella, economic and commercial interests should be the driving force in this debate. National sovereignty is not, and should not be, a requirement or condition for joining the GATT. In fact, under article XXXIII, accession to the GATT can be premised on a government having a `separate customs territory possessing full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations * * *.' Taiwan has closely followed the terms of this article by applying to the GATT as `The Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.' Allowing a non-GATT member, namely the People's Republic of China, to dictate the terms of, or exercise veto power over, another territory's entry into the GATT, for purely political reasons, is unacceptable.
The resolution that Senator Daschle and I, along with 30 other of my colleagues, are introducing today recognizes that Taiwan's accession to the GATT is in our national economic interest and in the best interest of the world trading system. It calls on our Government to fully and actively support Taiwan's GATT membership by taking appropriate and necessary steps. These steps would include ensuring that a working party is established to begin the process required for Taiwan's future accession.
GATT action on Taiwan's accession request is long overdue. Key to such action is U.S. leadership and support. The resolution being introduced today is designed to help move us in that direction.
- [End insert]
[Page: S5313]
- [End insert]
This resolution recognizes the reality that over the past 25 years, Taiwan has become a major force in the world economy. Its GNP has grown from just $217 per capita in 1965 to $7,518 per capita in 1989 and is expected to expand to about $20,000 by the year 2000. Taiwan is also the 13th largest trading nation and holds the second largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. In its trade with the United States, Taiwan is the fifth largest trading partner and the seventh largest market for United States agricultural exports.
Along with economic strength, Taiwan has shown an enthusiastic willingness to comply with GATT guidelines. Its economic philosophy and market economy is consistent with GATT principles. Taiwan has recently implemented a restructuring of its economy, which includes trade reform. Its Overseas Economic Development and Cooperation Fund has supplied over $1.2 billion to developing countries. Taiwan plans to join GATT as a developing country and continue economic reform.
To avoid any international political overtones, Taiwan has applied to GATT under the name `Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.' This limits the areas of autonomy in its conduct of foreign trade. As GATT is an economic body, it should include all major trading nations, of which Taiwan is one. GATT membership does not imply political recognition of Taiwan; therefore, membership should not raise any foreign policy questions.
Overall, I believe that Taiwan's membership in GATT would be good not only for Taiwan, in terms of continuing the process of political and economic liberalization, but also would be beneficial to all other GATT members. It would strengthen world trade relations as a whole and assure the stability of future trade and further political democratization in Taiwan. I urge all my Senate colleagues to support this resolution, which will assist Taiwan in its quest for GATT membership.
END
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
