Doug Bereuter: “last week U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor signed the Uruguay round trade agreement with representatives from 125…”

“last week U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor signed the Uruguay round trade agreement with representatives from 125 nations. This agreement is the most far reaching and significant elimination of trade barriers in the history of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or GATT. Mr. Speaker, the Uruguay round trade agreement, if implemented, will substantially improve the world trade environment for many industrial sectors and especially agriculture. This Member has been a longtime proponent of efforts to include agricultural trade under world trade rules. As one of the world's most competitive producers of agricultural commodities, the United States stands to gain the most from disciplined trade rules in this very important industry. Since 1947 and the inception of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, member nations have cooperated to write international trade rules for nearly all industries. However, for many reasons, these nations have been unable to cooperate and form global trade rules for agriculture. The Uruguay round's most ambitious task was to forge basic rules for this important sector.”