Week Ending Friday, April 19, 1996
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Week Ending Friday, April 19, 1996 Remarks on Trade With Japan and and when others work with us in a spirit of the Recess Appointment of the cooperation and mutual benefit. Secretary of Commerce and the The boost in sales is tremendous news for Nomination of the OMB Director American workers, for our auto and auto April 12, 1996 parts manufacturers, for our strong relation- ship with Japan. I also want to say it is good Thank you very much. Mr. Vice President, news for the people of Japan. When I first Ambassador Kantor, Senator Levin and Con- went to Japan in 1993, I said to the Japanese gressman Levin, all the distinguished leaders people what I will have the opportunity to from the auto industry and Mr. J.C. Phillips reiterate in just a couple of days: We have from the UAW, and to Jim Hill, all the peo- no more important bilateral relationship. We ple here from the agencies that are part of are bound together in our support for de- our Nation's economic team that really mocracy and freedom and for the security worked so hard to achieve these results. I of freedom-loving peoples in Asia and now welcome all of you here. elsewhere as Japan has shouldered bigger I want to thank you for what you said, Jim. and bigger burdens to help us all pursue the I am a car guy. I was 6 years old the first goals that we share. We also know that if time I crawled underneath a 1952 Buick in we have a free and open trading relationship my father's tiny dealership in Hope, Arkan- with them, it will help their economy, it will sas, population 6,000, and I never quite got give their consumers more choices, and it will over it. And one of the things that I promised help both nations to be more competitive as myself I would do if I ever got a chance to we hurtle our way forward into the 21st cen- have an impact on it was to give the American tury. automobile industry the chance to be re- Just 3 years ago our ties were strained by warded for its willingness to compete. And a trading relationship not beneficial to our that is what we have worked hard to do in Nation. The trade wasn't working, but the this administration. ties weren't working either. Today our rela- I just saw somethingÐMickey Kantor and tionship is working better for both of us. I walked outside, along with the Vice Presi- There's a lot to be done. In a big and complex dent, Mr. Panetta, and I saw something I relationship like ours there will always be a never thought I would live to see. And just lot to be done. But we are strengthening and 4 years ago, if you had told me that I would deepening our relationship. It is now a pow- see it, I'm not sure I would have believed erful force for creating opportunity, for ad- itÐright-hand drive American models made vancing democracy, and for improving the by American workers in American plants quality of life in both our countries. bound for Japan; a Ford Taurus, a GM-built I also want to say that, as Ambassador Cavalier, a Chrysler Neon built for the Japa- Kantor said earlier, I believe that the right nese market where consumers are now freely kind of trade is critical for our Nation's fu- buying tens of thousands more American cars ture. I believe the position of the United than ever before. These new exports, as oth- States must always be that we favor open ers have said, are the results of efforts by trade. We are not afraid to compete. We be- our car makers and our economic team. We lieve we can win. But if we're going to live have worked to expand our trade on fair in a world where we want others to raise their terms not only with Japan but with others standard of living to our level, and we no throughout the world. These exports show longer control anything like the percentage what we can do when we truly work together of the gross national product we did at the 657 VerDate 28-OCT-97 09:09 Jan 08, 1998 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 W:\DISC\P16AP4.015 p16ap4 658 Apr. 12 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1996 end of World War II, then, fine, we'll com- In 1992, 6 percent of our new jobs were pete, and we'll help others to advance. But in high-wage industries. In 1995, almost 60 we expect the same access to foreign markets percent of our new jobs were in high-wage that we give foreign producers to ours. It is industries. This strategy will work. It is not a simple rule and one we have followed. It a miracle; it will not work overnight. It plainly is a critical part of our economic strategy. depends for its success primarily on the will- When I became President job growth was ingness of American workers and American slow, the deficit was exploding, more than business leaders to work together, to be com- twice as high as it is now. We did two things. petitive, to be productive. But it will work. We put in place an economic strategy, low- This report shows the difference this ap- ered the deficit, cut it in half in 4 years, get proach will make. interest rates down, increase investments in Last year we reached a landmark agree- education and training, in research and tech- ment that increased our access to the Japa- nology, reform and shrink and make more nese market for autos and for auto parts. One effective the National Government, and ex- of the many legacies of our friend Secretary pand trade on terms both free and fair. That Ron Brown was the establishment with Am- strategy has been implemented by a national bassador Kantor of a team to monitor and economic team, the first time we ever had enforce the agreement. This report shows a fully functioning National Economic Coun- that since the agreement was signed, sales cil to parallel our National Security Council, of American-made autos have increased by to integrate, plan, and implement the eco- more than a third. Sales of American-made nomic strategies of this country and to work cars, trucks, and vans rose more than 225 in full partnership with the private sector. percent between 1992 and 1995, including We now have 81¤2 million more jobs than over 58,000 Big Three cars exported from we had just 3 years ago. And I might say, the U.S. just last year. In the first 2 months of the G±7 countries, that's more than 8 mil- of this year, our people sold one-third more lion more than the other six nations com- autos to Japan than in the same period last bined. We have the lowest combined rates year. So the movement is all in the right di- of unemployment and inflation in 27 years. rection. And trade has been critical to that; as Ambas- In auto parts, exports over the last 3 years sador Kantor said, 200 separate agree- up 60 percent, to $1.6 billion last year. Now, mentsÐ20 with Japan alone, now 21. Our to give you one example of the evidence that exports are at an all-time high, our auto pro- this agreement and its faithful implementa- ducers now leading the world. tion and your work has made, Tenneco Auto- Even more important, we have a frame- motive of Houston spent 25 years attempting work agreement in our relationship with to break into the Japanese market. Now their Japan which establishes a comprehensive sys- Monroe shock absorbers will be sold in al- tem for dealing with problems that inevitably most 7,500 Japanese shops. arise between two great nations. As a result, These developments are part of the rebirth our exports there are up over 30 percent; of our auto industry, an industry that lost in the areas covered by the agreements, up 49,000 jobs in the 4 years before I took office 85 percent. Today, exports to Japan support and has gained about 80,000 in the 3 years more than 800,000 good-paying American since. Because of the partnership between jobs, including 150,000 new ones since 1992. labor and management, for the first time in Most of these are good, high-wage jobs be- 15 years, last year the United States auto in- cause jobs tied to exports on average pay 15 dustry again was number one in the world. percent above the national average wage. We So again, let me thank the representatives are, therefore, in expanding our trade to an of the Big Three, the many auto parts pro- all-time highÐa full third in the last 3 ducers, and all the workers who have worked yearsÐslowly helping to change the wage so hard to make our belief in this economic picture that has bedeviled so many American strategy a reality. workers who think that they'll work harder The Big Three will be introducing 17 new and harder and never get a raise. right-hand models for the Japanese market VerDate 28-OCT-97 09:09 Jan 08, 1998 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 W:\DISC\P16AP4.015 p16ap4 Administration of William J.