U.S., Jordan link
trade and peace with new agreement. "CNN"
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Clinton is joined by His Majesty King Abdullah at the
White House on Tuesday during the signing ceremony for the
free-trade agreement
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October 24, 2000
WASHINGTON -- Though they
gathered to celebrate a trade agreement, U.S. President Bill Clinton and
His Majesty King Abdullah
were talking Tuesday about violence in the Mideast and the need for Israel
and Palestinians to "find a way out of confrontation."
"As hard as it may be,
there must be an end of the violence, and the Israelis and Palestinians
must find a way out of confrontation, back to the path of peaceful
dialogue, and they must do it sooner rather than later," Clinton
said.
"For in the Middle
East, as we have all learned, time does not heal wounds, it simply rubs
more salt in them. The issues do not change, they just get harder to
resolve."
His Majesty, The youthful
King Abdullah, quoting his father, the late King Hussein, echoed that
thought: "We have no right to dictate, through irresponsible action
or narrow-mindedness, the future of our children, and our children's
children. There has been enough destruction, enough death, enough
waste."
Clinton said free trade
contributes to peace, and that the agreement between the two countries
"will be good for the United States, good for Jordan, good for the
long-term prospects for peace in the Middle East."
The United States and
Jordan reached agreement Tuesday on the free-trade deal, a
precedent-setting plan that for the first time would protect labor rights
and environmental standards, long a goal of two major Democratic
constituencies.
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Halaykah signs the agreement with Barshefsky as His
Majesty King Abdullah and Clinton look on
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"It is a good and
important agreement," Clinton said.
The agreement will remove
all trade barriers between the two nations over the next 10 years. It is
only the fourth such pact the United States has with other countries. The
others are with Canada, Mexico and Israel.
U.S. Trade Representative Charlene
Barshefsky and Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Halaykah signed
the pact.
Congress must approve the
agreement before it takes effect, but its fate is uncertain given
Republican opposition to linking trade with labor and the environment. The
Clinton administration said the pact will not be sent to Congress for
approval until next year.
The negotiations, which
began only this year, were completed in record time for such significant
issues because of the personal interests of both Clinton and His Majesty
King Abdullah.
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Important boost for
Jordan
Speaking in the East Room
at the White House, His Majesty the king said: "I am proud to be here
to represent the men and women of Jordan, who have chosen partnership,
commitment and determination as the way forward to realize their dreams
and to fulfill the vision of their future."
The agreement to eliminate
all barriers to trade between the two nations was seen as having little
economic impact in the United States because the volume of trade is so
small. But it could give an important boost to Jordan's struggling economy
by encouraging investment from firms seeking export opportunities to the
United States.
The United States imported
just $31 million from Jordan last year, mainly shipments of jewelry, men's
coats and works of art and antiquities.
The United States exported
$275.6 million to Jordan in 1999, the largest sales being for aircraft,
followed by farm goods such as wheat, vegetable oils, rice, tobacco and
maize.
Abdullah has made reform of
Jordan's economy a main goal since he took over leadership after the
February 1999 death of his father.
"The establishment of
a free trade area between our two countries contributes to the
strengthening of the economy of Jordan, thus enhancing the prospects of
regional stability," he said. "We shall continue to pursue our
cherished goal of peace in our region. For us, it is the only
future."
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Unions,
environmentalists praise deal
Labor unions and
environmental groups praised the labor and environmental safeguards in the
Jordan deal as a small but important first step.
Anti-globalization forces
have charged that by ignoring those considerations, trade agreements
encourage a race to the bottom in which poor countries follow lax
standards as a way to attract manufacturing jobs away from the United
States and other developed countries.
AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney called the U.S.-Jordan agreement "a small step toward our
ultimate goal of making workers' rights and environmental protections an
integral part of universally applied trade rules."
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'Greenest ... deal in
years'
"This is the greenest
trade deal in years," said David Schorr, an official with the World
Wildlife Fund.
Many GOP lawmakers and
their supporters in business, however, see inclusion of labor and
environmental provisions in trade deals as a diversion from the primary
goal of tearing down trade barriers to boost economic growth.
Franklin Vargo, a vice
president at the National Association of Manufacturers, said trade deals
should be used "to expand trade. When other provisions are put in,
that gives us cause for concern."
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