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Remarks by Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans

Before the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

June 12, 2001

Washington, DC

[As Prepared For Delivery]

Thank you, for that kind introduction.

I am very pleased to be here. I am familiar with the Wilson Center and with the contributions made by this fine organization to informed dialogue on policy issues.

It's an honor to be with you.

Speaking of informed dialogue, I'd like to contribute to that this evening beginning with a simple statement: "Nobody wins unless we all win."

Bush Agenda

This is the principle of leadership that guides the Bush administration and tonight I'd like to apply it to the subject of trade...particularly free trade and expanding the genius of the free enterprise system.

This is an issue that is high on the President's priority list and it's going to get more attention as we seek to renew Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), formerly known as "fast track" authority. I'm optimistic that we'll succeed with opening markets and with passing TPA because these are the right things to do for the right reasons.

And since January we have had a short but constructive period of bipartisan successes that shows we can work together in this town to serve the American people. With strong backing from both parties, the President signed the largest tax cut in almost two decades and only the third comprehensive tax cut since World War II.

That's only the beginning: reforming education; developing a national consensus on energy policy; and putting the military on a solid footing to meet the challenges of the 21st Century are on the list. This is a bipartisan agenda that will create opportunities for everyone to win.

And this is the essence of good leadership. We have to remember that politics may well be a zero sum game, but good public policy and real leadership are not. We must create policies that give every American the opportunity to win. We want to raise all boats.

Promoting open and free markets around the world is best for our people. It's best for all mankind...from Peoria to Perth, from Buenos Aires to Bombay.

Economic Case for Free Trade

Tonight I want to make the case for free trade. Let me start with economics.

Studies tell us that if global barriers are reduced by one-third, the world economy will grow by more than $600 billion a year. That would be like creating a new economy the size of Canada's. Eliminating all barriers would boost growth by nearly $2 trillion...the equivalent of two Chinas.

On the other side of this discussion, we can expect our critics to remain focused on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Uruguay Round that brought us the World Trade Organization (WTO).

I'm not sure what their new approach will be but I can tell you about their old one.

They argued that NAFTA and the Uruguay Round would lead to the destruction of American manufacturing and misery for the American worker.

They maintained that trade would erode America's environmental protections.

They claimed that these agreements would only benefit the powerful multi-national corporations.

What are the hard facts?

Over the past decade, while we were negotiating and implementing NAFTA and the Uruguay Round, the U.S. economy grew at the fastest rate in a generation. Inflation fell to near zero. And unemployment fell below 4 percent.

Did trade destroy America's manufacturing base? No, it did not. By the year 2000, U.S. industrial production was 48 percent higher than it had been in 1990.

Did trade impoverish the American worker? No, it did not. Exports supported some 12 million U.S. jobs this past year. Workers in jobs directly supported by exports earn up to 18 percent more than the national average.

Did expanding trade erode environmental protections? No, it did not. To the contrary, U.S. environmental laws remain on the books. We benefit from cleaner air and water. And NAFTA brought environmental cooperation between the United States and Mexico that didn't exist before.

Were big companies the only ones to profit from trade liberalization? No, they were not. Our data show that 97 percent of U.S. merchandise exporters are small- and medium-sized companies.

Everyone has an opportunity to win in the global marketplace. That's the story we have to get out there.

The numbers make a good economic case for free trade. They help dispel the myths manufactured by opponents to free trade. And behind the numbers are real people...people like William Cotter and Gregory Davenport.

They started a specialty business, Da Vinci Gourmet, in Seattle, in 1989. Five people worked there then, including Cotter, Davenport and their wives. Now, 81 people earn a good living at Da Vinci Gourmet. What started as a strictly local business has grown into an exporter to 50 nations.

And there's Miguel Chavez, who was a postman when he started a sideline cleaning business in California and operated it out of his garage. Today, that family-owned enterprise has grown into a multi-million dollar specialty chemical business that sells its products in Mexico and ships to Australia.

These success stories are testament to the hard work and abilities of the entrepreneurial spirit in America...and to today's increasingly borderless world.

It's also encouraging to know that the Cotters, Davenports and the Chavez family are making it possible for scores of people to enjoy better lives both here at home and abroad. It's this kind of opportunity that is creating more product choices for us all, better prices and making it possible for many, many people to enjoy a better quality of life.

Level Playing Field

It's about creating opportunity and one other critical ingredient - a level playing field. I'd like to take a look at that a moment and discuss the need to keep competition truly competitive.

If the playing field is tilted against our companies and our workers...as we're seeing in the steel industry...no matter how good the product, they won't be able to compete. We can't be playing in a zero sum game on the global stage. That's not what this is all about.

When workers lose their jobs and companies go broke because the game is rigged, government needs to step in. And that's what the President did last week to address the problems in the steel industry. For 50 years, foreign government intervention and foreign government subsidies have distorted the market for steel. So the President took action.

Our goal and mission is to find a lasting solution, not a Band-Aid.

Through international negotiations, we will forge agreements that create and ensure a level playing field, so that competition is fair...so everyone has the opportunity to win. We will accept nothing less.

Moral Case for Free Trade

The economic case for free trade is unassailable but creating the environment for free and fair trade is about much more than a higher standard of living. As President Bush has said trade is not just about economics; it's a moral imperative.

Free and open trade is a foundation for economic development, democracy, social freedom and political stability. It's about a higher quality of life.

I've got a story for you. Thomas Friedman wrote about it in the New York Times.

A few years ago in Ghana, after years of government control of the airwaves, entrepreneurs were allowed to set up FM stations. For the first time people could tune in and hear music, the news and hours of live talk radio. They had the freedom to call the station and be interviewed by a reporter and say what was on their minds. Here the opening of a free market introduced a free market in ideas. People accepted the responsibility to share their ideas, which became the basis for the first ever peaceful transition from one elected civilian government to another in Ghana.

In the United States, we have come to trust and respect the relationship between economic development and human freedom. Individual rights are linked to economic freedom. Free trade helps create the habits of liberty, which in turn profoundly effect peoples' view of themselves and their society.

We must always keep in mind that governments don't create wealth. Entrepreneurs and workers like Miguel Chavez do. Government's role is to create the environment that gives them the freedom to go as far as their God-given talents can take them.

In my view, the freedom we cherish is the key to our economic future, and to building a 21st Century quality of life at home and abroad. I strongly believe, as the President does, that freedom is our most important export.

Bush Trade Agenda

Under the President's leadership, we are promoting trade policies that will bring the most good to the most people...that will provide opportunities for everyone to win in a global marketplace free of barriers and roadblocks.

In order to be fully successful, we need Trade Promotion Authority. We must provide our negotiators with the power they need to sit down at the bargaining table and secure new trade agreements that open more markets. That's not happening today.

The President recently noted that, "Free trade agreements are being negotiated all over the world, and we're not party to them." There are more than 130 preferential trade agreements in the world today. The United States belongs to only two.

Bluntly, we have to get off the sidelines and back into the game. And to do that, we will work closely with Congress.

Under the Constitution, Congress has a fundamental role in setting our trade policies. In fact, what TPA really does is ensure close collaboration between Congress and the President.

I'll be joining the President in Sweden later this week for the European Union Summit. And I'm certain that during our meetings we'll be asked about Trade Promotion Authority, especially since we hope to launch a new round of talks in the World Trade Organization in November. In those talks we plan to work on better ways to resolve trade disputes, and to tackle other tough issues...such as the disputed Foreign Sales Corporation.

If we want our trading partners to listen to us...to take us seriously when we do sit down and deal with these issues, we need TPA. Having this authority will not only strengthen our hand on all these issues, but it will show that we're serious as a nation about improving trade relations, and about tearing down barriers.

Making Our Case to Americans

Let me wind down tonight on this. Free trade and all the life-changing benefits it can bring - whether it's a better standard of living, a cleaner environment, or freedom - offers benefits to all Americans...to mankind.

We'd like you to join us to build a consensus in the Congress...on Main Street...and around the globe...by talking of the rewards and benefits of trade and open markets. Frankly, we have done a very poor job of explaining the tremendous benefits we enjoy in this country...thanks to our presence in the world marketplace.

We have decades of results confirming the universal rewards of expanding trade and commerce, yet it's still not clear to many Americans that increasing trade is in their best interests. Highly charged rhetoric that conjures up the specter of job losses still inflames the debate, but we have the facts on our side.

However, we have to do a much better job of getting our messages across.

Working together with folks like you who believe in trade and who have seen the benefits first hand, I know we can earn broad support for the free trade agenda.

It's a matter of demonstrating that "Nobody wins unless we all win."

Thank you very much.