Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220070
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor and Ruggiero appeared at a joint news conference, where both proclaimed a ``meeting of the minds'' over important issues.
They sought to put behind them a bruising international fight that has marred the start-up of the new, more powerful organization created to referee global trade disputes.
But WTO opponents charged that the United States had suffered an embarrassing defeat that proved their warnings that the United States will be constantly outvoted in the Geneva-based organization.
``This guy [Ruggiero] is a glorified bureaucrat. He is an empire builder and a Europe-firster,'' said Patrick Buchanan, a leading opponent of the WTO and a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. ``Bill Clinton has put the idea of global consensus ahead of the national economic interests of the United States.''
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said, ``This is the first of many instances we will be able to point to in making the case that we need to do away with the WTO.''
The United States had been backing former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari while Japan and other Asian countries backed South Korea Trade Minister Kim Chul Su. Salinas withdrew this month after his brother was arrested on charges he masterminded the assassination of a senior political official last year.
The United States at first sought to find another candidate to support. But when Europe continued pushing Ruggiero's candidacy, the administration decided to seek concessions in return for dropping its objections.
Kantor said that Ruggiero had agreed to serve only one four-year term and that ``virtually all'' the 124 nations who make up the WTO had agreed that Ruggiero's successor would be a non-European.
In addition, Kim, who announced Tuesday he was dropping his own candidacy, will be named as one of Ruggiero's deputies, Kantor said.
``This matter unfortunately became a hemispheric contest - the antipathy of consensus,'' Kantor said. ``We are all agreed it should not work this way in the future.''
While Ruggiero, 64, has had extensive experience in trade issues, administration officials said they had not been favorably impressed with him last year on a trip he made to Washington campaigning for the WTO job.
The administration objected that Ruggiero was too bureaucratic and too protectionist, likely to side with European farmers trying to retain barriers to U.S. farm products.
Kantor said Tuesday, however, that he and Ruggiero had had fruitful discussions on U.S. concerns.
by CNB