TEXT: DALEY 10/30 REMARKS AT BOEING/CHINA SIGNING CEREMONY
(Boeing sale shows China wants stronger relationship)

Washington -- China's purchase of commercial aircraft from the Boeing Commercial Aircraft Group is "a strong signal that China wants to build a stronger commercial relationship with the U.S., one based on cooperation and mutual benefits," Secretary of Commerce William Daley said at an October 30 signing ceremony.

"This sale could also be a turning point in U.S.-China trade," Daley said. "It's a critical step in addressing our trade imbalance. And it will lead to further cooperation not just in commercial aircraft but also in air traffic control, airport construction, and air safety."

Daley stressed the importance of engagement between the United States and China.

"Engagement is the only responsible policy for two of the world's largest nations and strongest economies," he said. "We must step up our engagement, to give more companies like Boeing the opportunity to compete in the Chinese market; to give China access to world-class, state-of-the-art goods and services."

"Together, we must move toward the vision that President Clinton described yesterday when he welcomed President Jiang to the White House," Daley continued. "'Both our countries,' he said, 'can best advance our interests and our values by working together rather than standing apart...Together we can lay the groundwork for a safer, better world, where peace prevails and prosperity grows.'"

Following is the text of Daley's remarks:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of Commerce

Thursday, October 30, 1997

REMARKS OF SECRETARY OF COMMERCE WILLIAM M. DALEY

BOEING/CHINA SIGNING CEREMONY

Good morning. It's my great pleasure to welcome you all to the Department of Commerce.

I want to introduce the distinguished group with me here today. First our Chinese guests: the Honorable Zeng Peiyan, Vice-Chairman of the State Planning Commission; the Honorable Chen Guangyi, Minister, General Administration of Civil Aviation of China; Bai Zhi Jian, President of the China Aviation Supply Company; and Yin Wenlong, President and Chairman of Air China. Welcome to the United States. Thank you for joining us, and thank you for the important role you've played in this historic purchase -- the largest single purchase of commercial aircraft ever made by China.

From Boeing, we welcome Chairman and CEO Phil Condit and Ron Woodard, President of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. Congratulations to both of you and to all of Boeing for your determination in completing a sale that was several years in the making. I'm glad that I was able to do my part, advocating on your behalf when I was in China earlier this month.

Boeing now adds this sale to their extraordinary trade portfolio. With customers in 145 nations, with 70 percent of their commercial aircraft sales taking place overseas, Boeing is a company that truly understands -- and embraces -- the global economy.

I'm very pleased that my immediate predecessor in this job, Mickey Kantor, could be here. Welcome back Mickey. Thank for your leadership on trade issues, and thank you for making my life easier by leaving behind a strong and effective Department of Commerce.

I want to acknowledge Senator Patty Murray, who has been a loud champion for Boeing and all the people of Washington state. I'm glad to see Governor Gary Locke as well, so soon after our paths crossed in China. Governor Locke has every reason to be proud today. The nation that is his ancestral home is doing more than three billion dollars worth of business with the largest employer in the state where he is chief executive. That's quite a story.

And I especially want to thank the Boeing suppliers who have come from 42 states to be a part of this signing. They are both the heroes and the true beneficiaries of our National Export Strategy. Meeting with them this morning brought to life for me the ripple effect that this deal will have throughout our economy.

This contract is a great triumph for Boeing, of course, but also for Saft America, Inc. of Valdosta, Georgia, where CEO Francis Westfall and his 1,400 employees produce aviation batteries and accessories for Boeing.

It's good news for smaller firms like Square Tool & Machine Company of South El Monte, California, which builds tooling for all the "7" Series Boeing Aircraft. Square Tool & Machine has built a strong relationship with Boeing, enabling them to add more and more jobs and recover from downsizing brought on by defense cuts in the early 1990s.

These stories are living proof that trade benefits every American community. Trade isn't a multinational chess game. It's a sound economic strategy for the 21st century. What we see here today is that the markets we open and the business Americans do abroad improves the quality of life in households from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon.

This sale could also be a turning point in U.S.-China trade. It's a strong signal that China wants to build a stronger commercial relationship with the U.S., one based on cooperation and mutual benefits. It's a critical step in addressing our trade imbalance. And it will lead to further cooperation not just in commercial aircraft but also in air traffic control, airport construction, and air safety.

The President's policy of engagement with China is working -- for both sides. From this sale, American companies will generate profits and create jobs, while China gets some of the best aircraft money can buy.

Engagement is the only responsible policy for two of the world's largest nations and strongest economies. We must step up our engagement, to give more companies like Boeing the opportunity to compete in the Chinese market; to give China access to world-class, state-of-the-art goods and services.

Together, we must move toward the vision that President Clinton described yesterday when he welcomed President Jiang to the White House: "Both our countries," he said, "can best advance our interests and our values by working together rather than standing apart...Together we can lay the groundwork for a safer, better world, where peace prevails and prosperity grows".

Wherever you go in the global economy -- on every continent and in every sector -- there is still untapped potential for American firms. There are still more markets to penetrate; more barriers to be eliminated; more export opportunities to be realized.

That's why the President has fought so hard in this battle over traditional trading authority. To open markets -- and to deliver on the jobs and the opportunity they promise -- we have to give ourselves the strongest possible hand when we go to the negotiating table.

Fast track is a very basic tool -- and hardly unprecedented. Every President for the last 25 years -- Democrat and Republican -- has been vested with this authority. Today, with the global economy more pervasive and more competitive than ever before, it's never been more important.

To reject fast track would send precisely the wrong signal -- about the leadership role America is prepared to take in the world; and about our government's commitment to a strong partnership with American industry.

If today's signing proves anything -- and if the economic performance of the last four years has proven anything -- it's that America has everything to gain and nothing to fear from globalization.

Trade has been the fuel that has propelled us to the strongest economy in a generation. Exports are responsible for one-third of our growth over the last four years.

It's very simple. Just look over my right shoulder: exports equal jobs. Exports equal good jobs; jobs in our most competitive sectors; jobs that pay, on average, about 15 percent more than non-export related jobs.

This is not the time to shy away from engagement with China and the world's other fertile markets. We have to all work together -- government and industry; nation to nation -- to increase trade and promote commercial exchange, to usher in a 21st century of security and prosperity for the U.S., China, and the rest of the world.

Congratulations to Boeing and all of its suppliers, as well as our Chinese friends. I look forward to working with all of you in the coming years toward more sales like this one.

(end text)

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