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

DATE: MONDAY, June 27, 1994                   TAG: 9407070096
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DON'T WAIT TO PUSH FOR GATT

This time, their rear-guard action seeks to delay - and so defeat - congressional approval of the newly revised General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. A victory by GATT's critics would do appreciable harm to America's long-term economic prospects.

Which is why, notwithstanding all the issues competing for his attention, President Clinton must start right away a full-court press for GATT approval. He, and the nation, can't afford to give opponents time to peck the thing to death.

This agreement among 120 nations, signed earlier this year after seven years of hard bargaining, is flawed, to be sure. But its overall impact - lowering tariffs worldwide, extending GATT rules to cover more kinds of commerce, generally boosting international trade - will greatly benefit the United States and its increasingly trade-driven economy.

Embroiled in health-care reform and other matters, Clinton doubtless would prefer to avoid conflict with the union-backed liberal members of his party on the Hill. Many Congress members, not just Democrats, are balking at the estimated $14 billion that would have to be raised over five years to offset losses incurred by lowering tariffs.

But Clinton can't avoid a confrontation if he's to lead the charge for GATT. And Congress members should be reminded that the economic stimulus from expanded trade would more than make up for lost tariff revenues.

What's really at stake - as it was, albeit more symbolically, with NAFTA - is America's response to the globalization of markets. Will we try, in defeatist error, to thrust our heads in the sand and pretend it isn't happening? Try to protect some industries and special interests at the expense of everyone else? Or shall we summon our nation's resources and strength to meet the challenge and thrive in the new economy?

Sure, there will be displacements, transitions, losses. But those can and should be eased. Meanwhile, the net effect of a globalizing economy ought to be very good for America and its workers. Consider just one impact of globalization: the higher premium it places on work skills.

In international competition for low-skill work, countries with low living standards are likely to win. To compete globally for higher-income jobs, employers and employees alike will have to continually upgrade their skills.

But who believes Americans can't do this as well as or better than anyone else?

When it comes to high-skill jobs, we should be able to compete with the best, and not just because we have the world's best higher education. Consider also our culture and traditions.

High-skill workers aren't cogs in a machine. They are economic engines in their own right, problem-solving entrepreneurs whether on their own or within a corporation. And America has long valued entrepreneurs. Indeed, many of the traits we've traditionally prized - initiative, enterprise, ingenuity, creativity - are at the heart of high-skill work.

Too, don't forget our good, old flexibility. As Myron Magnet wrote in his book, The Dream and the Nightmare: "Change entails upheaval and dislocation, but the flexibility of Americans, their readiness to reinvent themselves and remake their circumstances, is a key element both of the American national character and of American economic success."

We do still possess these values and traits, don't we?