Australia Competition Monthly
Department of State Washington File: Text: Clinton Describes His Vision for China and the WTO
To lock China out of the WTO, would only benefit "the most rigid, anti-democratic elements in China itself," the President writes in the January/February 2000 edition of "The New Democrat," a bi-monthly magazine published by the Democratic Leadership Council. (Founded in 1985, the Council bills itself as "an idea center" for the Democratic Party. President Bill Clinton is a past chairman.) ... Prior to the final negotiations, labor leaders as well as Democrats and Republicans in Congress raised legitimate concerns about the importance of safeguards against unfair competition. This agreement addresses those concerns and as a result, no agreement on WTO accession has ever contained stronger measures to strengthen guarantees of fair trade. Among these guarantees is a "product-specific" safeguard that allows us to take measures focused directly on China in case of an import surge that threatens a particular industry. This protection remains in effect a full 12 years after China enters the WTO and is stronger and more targeted relief than that provided under our current Section 201 law. ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: Deputy USTR Fisher on U.S. Trade Policy and Trade Deficit
Looking ahead, it appears likely that strong growth in the U.S. market will keep imports growing. This is not a cause for regret; as noted earlier, imports tend to promote competition, raise living standards and keep inflation low. ... U.S. exports of goods and services appear to be resuming their earlier rapid growth as prospects for the world economy are beginning to brighten, and global growth accelerates. Exports of American goods and services have risen from year earlier levels for the last 8 months (through December 1999) with an average monthly gain of 3.7 percent, whereas in 11 out of the preceding 12 months (May 1998 to April 1999) they had fallen. ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: FCC's Tristani on Broadband Access
And the phenomenon of e-commerce is nothing short of outstanding. As Peter Drucker wrote in an article in the Atlantic Monthly, e-commerce "is creating a new and distinct boom, rapidly changing the economy, society, and politics." And e-commerce is changing the way all businesses, small and large, think. To survive, businesses must think and act globally, in terms of one economy and one market. ... During my tenure at the FCC, we've sought to create incentives to spur competition and the deployment of the infrastructure necessary for the communications revolution to benefit all Americans. In some instances, our decisions have involved new rules to ensure a level playing field among incumbents and new entrants. At other times, we have adopted policies of non-regulation intended to allow market forces to expand services and offerings to consumers and businesses. Our decisions and policies on universal service, on broadband cable, and on wireless service have set us on the path toward a connected country. ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Transcript: White House Daily Briefing, Tuesday, April 4, 2000
MR. SPERLING: I'm comfortable with that number? I would like every single monthly number to be the best possible. That doesn't always happen. I think when you look at numbers, you look at trends and you look at the overall economy. And the leading indicator is not even essentially that market-sensitive of an indicator at this point. It is mostly pulling together things that have already been out in the market. And I'm saying is that I think when you look at the majority of forecasters in the private sector out there, they feel as we do that the fundamentals of the economy remain quite sound. ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: USTR Outlines Implications of WTO Accession for China, Taiwan
The policies that have been at the core of China's spectacular growth in the last twenty- five years -- progress toward freer markets, greater openness to foreign competition and investment, deregulation and privatization, tariff reduction -- could serve as a model to others. ... -- The commitments China has undertaken, consistent with the principles of the WTO, are designed to produce more foreign and domestic competition, and thus more open markets. These commitments require China to allow imported products to compete on an equal footing with domestic products, including through allocation to non-state trading enterprises of an important share of imports of products under quotas and tariff rate quotas. State-owned enterprises are no longer permitted to benefit from export subsidies. ... [Read More]
USIS Washington File: TEXT: G-7 STATEMENT CITES NEED FOR GROWTH IN EUROPE, JAPAN
Harmful Tax Competition and International Tax Evasion ... 17. We welcome the establishment of the OECD's Forum on harmful tax competition and the actual start of implementing the guidelines and recommendations adopted by the OECD with respect to the harmful effects of unfair tax practices. We strongly endorse the current work program of the Forum, in particular the efforts to identify tax havens. We also support the Forum's intention to engage in a dialogue with jurisdictions identified through this process. We urge that this work be given a high priority. We also note the ongoing work to implement the code of conduct within the EU. ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: Macau Policy Act Report Finds China Keeping Autonomy Pledge
Macau faces a challenging economic environment as it moves further into the post-transition phase and emerges from a long recession. Macau has a small open economy that is highly dependent on the gambling and related tourism industries and apparel exports. It faces stiff competition both from nearby Hong Kong's high-powered, highly developed services economy and the cheap labor and abundant land across the border in Mainland China. In response, the government is moving to increase competition in the gambling industry and to find a niche in the emerging high tech economy of the region. ... [Read More]
USIS Washington File: TRANSCRIPT: DOD BRIEFING ON DEFENSE REFORM INITIATIVE, MARCH 1
"The fiscal year 2000 budget provides for the competition of nearly 229,000 positions between fiscal year 1997 and fiscal year 2005. ... Dr. Hamre: Sure. We meet on a monthly basis, and I'm talking about senior levels. I'm talking about the Vice Chief of Staff level. They meet with me. ... "In an era of changing security interests, the benefits of competition are not a luxury but a necessity in order to reallocate funding to meet the needs of the warfighter. ... [Read More]
USIS Washington File: TEXT: KLEIN SEES U.S. GLOBAL ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT EVOLVING
As many of you may know, late last year the Attorney General and I established an International Competition Policy Advisory Committee to look at these challenges with a fresh perspective, giving particular attention to three key issues. First, how can we build and strengthen a consensus among competition enforcement authorities around the world for prosecuting international cartels? Second, at a time when increasing numbers of mergers involve international transactions that directly affect competition in more than one country, how can the various competition enforcement authorities best coordinate their merger review efforts, while preserving their sovereignty, to achieve results that are sound and efficient, both for the parties to these mergers and for consumers in the countries affected by them? And third, how can we ensure that, as our international trade agreements remove governmental impediments to free trade, those impediments are not replaced by anticompetitive schemes on th ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: Competition Needed for Telecom Development, Official Says
Speaking of the government role, a speech on any sort of telecommunications development would not be complete without a call for sound regulatory structures. Having said that socio-economic drivers are fundamental, an appropriate policy climate is essential. Ironically, though India is in many respects an IT superpower, it only recently has begun to create a regulatory regime that encourages competition in the telecommunications industry. Only 5 million out of over one billion Indians have access to the Internet, and only 2.7 percent of that 5 million uses a broadband connection. This is because, as I mentioned earlier, the data network cannot make widespread use of common technologies such as DSL, which must rely on a telephone infrastructure that has been historically stifled by Indian regulatory policies that neither encouraged competition nor effectively controlled monopolies. On the other hand, according to the OECD the success being experienced by Korea in the rollout of hig ... [Read More]
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