For Immediate Release

COALITION OF SERVICE INDUSTRIES CALLS FOR US TO TAKE LEAD ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

WASHINGTON, DC, MARCH 4, 1999. — Mr. Dean R. O'Hare, Chairman of the Coalition of Service Industries (CSI) said today that "It is time to reinvigorate US trade policy by renewing the President's authority to conduct trade negotiations."

In testimony before the House Trade Subcommittee, Mr. O'Hare called for "renewed US leadership in the international trading system." The US must avoid protectionist trade actions, take the lead in multilateral and other efforts to eliminate trade and investment barriers, and establish a stronger system of international trading rules through the WTO. "This will require extending broad, multi-year trade negotiating authority to the President," said O'Hare.

Just two weeks before sponsoring a seminar on services in China and six weeks before the anticipated visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to Washington, Mr. O'Hare testified that CSI "strongly supports a WTO accession agreement that lets us participate fully in the Chinese market." He emphasized, however, that "without commercially meaningful commitments on services, there can be no deal with China." Should China agree to "play by WTO rules," O'Hare concluded, "then the United States should provide normal trading relations status to China."

In 1998, US services exports were $260 billion, imports were $180, and the services trade surplus was $80 billion. Because the US is "the world's largest exporter and importer of services," said O'Hare, CSI has a "very great interest in the WTO services negotiations scheduled to start in 2000." The WTO, O'Hare stated, is "absolutely essential" to the rules-based international trade system needed to maintain US prosperity.

Mr. O'Hare identified two challenges to the WTO which require US leadership to overcome. The first of these is "the implementation and enforcement of trade agreements already negotiated;" and the second is "increasing the transparency and openness of the WTO." O'Hare urged WTO member governments to take responsibility for resolving these problems.

O'Hare explained that the new services trade negotiations must address "pro-competitive regulatory reform." This means "abandoning outdated forms of regulation, by which governments limit the number of participants in a market, limit the introduction of new products, restrict market-based pricing, and discriminate against foreign firms." O'Hare said the 1997 US-Japan bilateral insurance agreement should have created a better regulatory environment in Japan but for the fact that "significant aspects of the agreement have not been implemented."

Bob Vastine, CSI President, explained that the Coalition of Service Industries was established in 1982 to create greater public awareness of the major role services play in our national economy and promote the expansion of business opportunities abroad for U.S. service companies. "We work closely with the Administration, Congress, and international bodies such as the WTO to increase the focus on liberalization of trade in services in international trade negotiations. Our mandate in 1982 was to get services included in the Uruguay Round in 1982, which we did successfully, and we continue to work toward an increasingly open and competitive global marketplace through the WTO and other trade initiatives."

Contact: Bob Vastine or Liesyl Franz (202) 289-7460

The Coalition of Service Industries represents the interests of the U.S. services sector. CSI is committed to increasing public awareness of the major role services play in our national economy. The broad range and diversity of the service sector is reflected in CSI's membership which in-cludes major international companies from the banking, insurance, telecommunications, securi-ties, computer and data processing, maritime transport, travel and tourism, accountancy and diversified management services sectors.