For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 16, 2003
World Trade Week, 2003
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Trade expands prosperity, helps raise millions from poverty, and is
an engine of economic growth within our Nation and around the world.
Trade injects new energy and vitality into the global economy by
fostering the exchange of ideas and innovations among people around the
world. Free and open trade also helps promote peace and security.
During World Trade Week, we renew our commitment to developing and
implementing trade policies that create new opportunities and promote
global economic growth.
My Administration is pursuing an ambitious trade agenda that is
restoring America's leadership in the global trading system. We worked
hard for the passage of the Trade Act of 2002, which reinstated Trade
Promotion Authority after an 8-year lapse. Trade Promotion Authority
re-established the ability of the United States to credibly negotiate
comprehensive trade agreements by ensuring that agreements will be
approved or rejected, by the Congress, but not amended. This gives
other countries renewed confidence in their trade negotiations with the
United States.
To extend the benefits of trade and to improve the lives of people
in our Nation and around the world, my Administration continues to
pursue global, regional, and bilateral trade agreements. Through the
Doha Development Agenda negotiations at the World Trade Organization,
the United States is seeking to strengthen the multilateral trading
system, increase market access opportunities, and promote global
development. Regionally, we are working to build on the success of the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the Free Trade Area of
the Americas, which will expand free trade benefits throughout the
Western Hemisphere. We are also encouraging the free flow of trade and
investment in the Pacific among our partners in the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation forum and the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations. In addition, we are negotiating a free trade agreement with
five Central American democracies and will soon begin free trade
agreement negotiations with the Southern African Customs Union to help
spur economic growth in these two regions. Bilaterally, I recently
signed a historic free trade agreement with Singapore -- the first of
its kind between the United States and an Asian/Pacific country, and we
are finalizing a similar agreement with Chile. Free trade agreement
negotiations are also underway with Australia and Morocco.
In America, trade is also critical to maintaining our economic
competitiveness in the global market. It has been estimated that one
in eleven American jobs -- over 12 million -- are supported by exports
of goods and services. In the 1990s, exports accounted for about
one-quarter of our economic growth. Our Nation's two major trade
agreements during this time, NAFTA
and the Uruguay Round, provided consumers with a greater choice of
goods at better prices, while raising living standards for a typical
American family of four by up to $2,000 a year.
My Administration is also providing assistance to help
trade-impacted workers adapt to the challenge of international
competition. The Trade Adjustment Assistance program helps
trade-impacted workers gain or enhance job-related skills and find new
jobs. The program provides eligible workers with up to 2 years of
training, income support during training, job search assistance, and
relocation allowances.
World trade allows all nations to share in the great economic,
social, and political progress of our age and provides a foundation for
a more peaceful and stable world. This week, we recognize the
importance of free trade in promoting prosperity and freedom in the
United States and around the world.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States
of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution
and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 18 through May
24, 2003, as World Trade Week. I encourage all Americans to observe
this week with events, trade shows, and educational programs that
celebrate the benefits of trade to our Nation and the global economy.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day
of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand three, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
twenty-seventh.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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