Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 14, 1994 TAG: 9405160133
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Clinton administration asked an elite group of business leaders Friday for help in winning congressional passage of a global trade agreement.
Consider what the pact ``will do for your bottom line,'' Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen told 96 of the nation's corporate executives. The group is holding its twice-yearly meeting as the Business Council.
``I think it's incumbent on those who will benefit to speak up and make it clear'' they support passage of the world trade agreement negotiated by more than 100 countries last December in Geneva, Bentsen said.
The pact, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, has run into trouble on Capitol Hill because of the need for tax increases and spending cuts to make up for an estimated $14 billion in lost tariff revenue over the first five years of the agreement.
``There's a great deal at stake here,'' Bentsen told the Business Council. ``Think about what you stand to gain and what you stand to lose. The GATT deal opens markets for the products in which the United States is the most competitive.''
Bentsen also said he expects the economic recovery to withstand recent increases in interest rates.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman "Alan Greenspan and I share the goal of steady, well-grounded, low-inflationary growth. I think that's what we have and the Fed is just being cautious to make certain it stays that way,'' Bentsen said.
The business leaders appeared to be in agreement, saying the economy is growing at a healthy pace and shrugging off worries that rising interest rates will undermine the recovery.
The Fed has boosted short-term rates from 3 percent to 3.75 percent this year and is likely to take them higher next week.
Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan., met privately with the executives and told reporters afterward she informed them she is pessimistic about health care reform this year and expects the administration to renew favored-nation trade status with China next month.
``We don't gain anything by not extending'' the free-trade status because of disapproval of China's human rights record, she said.
The business leaders agree, preferring human rights and trade be treated as separate issues.
by CNB