Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 16, 1993                   TAG: 9312160110
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: GENEVA                                LENGTH: Medium

WORLD'S BIGGEST TRADE DEAL SIGNED

The new agreement slashes tariffs on thousands of manufactured products. It also for the first time expands the rules of world trade to cover agricultural products and the rapidly expanding services sector.

"I intend to raise this gavel and to conclude the Uruguay Round as a success after seven long years," said Peter Sutherland, head of the trade talks as he banged the table to loud applause and the flash of cameras.

The endorsement of the trade pact followed years of negotiations, missed deadlines and wars of words.

"Today the world has chosen openness and cooperation instead of uncertainty and conflict," Sutherland told delegates gathered in a Geneva auditorium Wednesday. "I am convinced that today will be seen as a defining moment in modern economic and political history."

But the 400-page agreement still faces legislative battles before it can take effect in 1995. It must be formally signed in Morocco in April, and in the United States, Congress cannot begin debating the measure before April 15.

President Clinton called the agreement an early Christmas gift that "cements our position of leadership in the new global economy."

The agreement will establish a new World Trade Organization with tougher enforcement powers to succeed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Economists believe trade liberalization holds out the promise of expanding global output $6 trillion over the next decade, $1 trillion of that in the United States.