The White House

NAFTA NOTES

Tuesday, October 19, 1993

White House Gears Up for NAFTA Jobs and Products Day

• The White House is continuing to gear up for NAFTA Jobs and Products Day tomorrow. The President will be joined in reviewing American exports to Mexico by members of Congress, members of the Cabinet, Lee Iacocca and over one thousand workers and representatives of exporting companies. Products will begin to arrive today, and will be displayed by the workers who produce them in two tents on the South Lawn. The message of this event is clear -- U.S. exports create U.S. jobs and NAFTA will boost more than 700,000 U.S. jobs dependant on trade with Mexico.

Rep. Bereuter Endorses NAFTA

• In a floor statement last Friday, Representative Doug Bereuter (R-NE) endorsed NAFTA, announcing that he will vote in favor of its passage. Rep. Bereuter stated that "the approval of NAFTA is in the overall best interest of the United States --both in the short-term and long-term; for Nebraska the case is even more overwhelmingly positive."
• Bereuter told his House colleagues that "the low-wage incentive to move jobs out of the United States already exists; therefore, approval of NAFTA would actually reduce this jobrelocation incentive rather than increase it -- by eliminating Mexico's substantial barriers to U.S. manufactured products." Bereuter also pointed out that NAFTA would eliminate Mexican laws requiring U.S. producers to build in Mexico to sell in Mexico. "Thus, it would no longer be necessary for U.S. auto makers and auto parts manufacturers to locate facilities in Mexico to tap Mexican markets; these products could be made in the U.S. by American workers and exported to Mexico."

Microsoft's Gates Calls NAFTA "Key" to Ending Software Piracy

• In an op-ed article in yesterday's Washington Post, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates endorsed NAFTA, calling it "key" to ending software piracy which costs American software manufacturers millions each year. "Software piracy costs the U.S. industry a staggering $10 billion a year in lost revenue from foregone foreign sales," Gates wrote. "These increased sales would generate more jobs at home".
• Gates wrote that Microsoft's sales "grew more than 100 percent in 1992 and nearly 200 percent in 1993 while U.S.-based employment in support of Microsoft's Latin American operations increased more than 300 percent." Gates argued that the precedent set in NAFTA for intellectual protection could be extended to the rest of South America as those countries seek to link themselves to the agreement. "In short," Gates concluded, "approval of NAFTA is vitally important to the software industry -- and the country. ...It is an opportunity we should not miss."

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