*EPF403 02/03/00
Commerce Under Secretary Aaron Says He'll Leave in March
(Reviews progress on WTO, China NTR, Internet Privacy) (780)
By Warner Rose
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade David Aaron has announced that he will be leaving his post at the end of March.

Aaron, who made the announcement at the end of a February 2 press luncheon, said he would be going into private practice in the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney "doing troubleshooting abroad for U.S companies." Aaron will work in Dorsey & Whitney's Washington office.

Aaron was nominated to his current post in June 1997. He took over the position as the head of the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration (ITA) in November of that year. The mission of the ITA, which has 2,000 employees, includes trade agreement enforcement and export promotion. Before heading ITA, Aaron was U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Aaron said he didn't know who would be acting under secretary or who would be nominated to fill the position for the remaining time of the Clinton administration.

During the press luncheon, Aaron reviewed outstanding trade issues.

Aaron said the United States should "continue to push" to get a new round of multilateral trade negotiations and flatly blamed the position of the European Union (EU) and Japan on agriculture as having "derailed the round" in Seattle. Negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Seattle November 30-December 3, 1999 ended inconclusively before a new round of trade talks could be launched.

Issues such as trade and labor and anti-dumping were never even approached at the WTO ministerial because the EU and Japan prevented any progress on agriculture, Aaron said. He pointed out that all sides were obliged to discuss agriculture as part of the "built-in" agenda from the 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements. Agriculture "has been the biggest stumbling block," Aaron said, while adding that there was real progress in Seattle on reaching consensus on trade in services, a second item of the built-in agenda.

The next step, Aaron said, should be to get some proposals on the table in both agriculture and services. If this is done "it will concentrate people's minds" and perhaps later on other issues can be added, he said.

Aaron said he did not think that setting an "end-date" for the negotiations would serve to move them along. The negotiations are more likely to become a "process," which the structure of the WTO, as a permanent organization, can help to move along.

On other issues, Aaron expressed optimism that the European Commission and the United States could reach agreement on the issue of privacy in electronic commerce by the March 31 deadline that both sides have set. EU representatives came to Washington and met officials from different agencies to discuss issues of the enforcement of privacy rules, he said, adding that he would be traveling to several countries in Europe to discuss the issues further.

Aaron expressed confidence that the U.S. Congress would pass legislation to grant China permanent normal trade relations (NTR) status, in order to fulfill the U.S. side of the bilateral agreement with China that was required as part of the Chinese accession to the WTO. The Clinton administration will succeed in getting the NTR approved, despite some strong opposition, because of the strength of the deal negotiated with the Chinese, Aaron said. The agreement "really opens up the Chinese markets," not only by lowering tariffs and quotas, but by also opening distribution networks and other areas that have been so difficult for U.S. firms to establish themselves, Aaron said. "This is a one-sided deal," he said. "They open up, we make no further concessions."

Aaron said that Secretary of Commerce William Daley said the best time to move on NTR for China was mid-April to June, but he added that he hoped the measure would not "fall prey" to action by a certain time. He emphasized that NTR for China was vitally important for the United States because U.S. firms would not be able to take advantage of China's opening if they continue to face annual NTR renewal, as is now the case.

Asked about the African trade bill and the Caribbean Basin Initiative enhancement legislation, Aaron said both were a high priority for the Clinton administration. He noted that the legislation got "pretty close" to passage last year. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott had indicated it would be possible to move on the legislation, he said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)
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