After seven years of hard bargaining and shouting, trade negotiators from around the world gave final approval Wednesday to the biggest package ever for breaking down barriers to exports.
Peter Sutherland, head of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, received an extended standing ovation as he gaveled the negotiations closed on what he called "the most far-reaching trade agreement ever.""I am convinced that today will be seen as a defining moment in modern economic and political history," he said. "Today the world has chosen openness and cooperation instead of uncertainty and conflict."
The 400-page agreement will be formally signed in Marrakesh, Morocco, in April. The agreement faces contentious legislative battles before going into effect in 1995.
In the United States, Congress cannot begin debating the measure before April 15 at the earliest. The trade pact slashes tariffs on thousands of manufactured products from computer chips to potato chips.
It would also for the first time expand the rules of world trade to cover agricultural products and the rapidly expanding services sector.
The agreement will also establish a new World Trade Organization with tougher enforcement powers to succeed GATT. The way for this was cleared after the United States was satisfied that the new agency will not have the power to overturn U.S. trade laws.
There were a number of compromises made in the final days of bargaining as various protected industries successfully fought to retain their barriers against foreign competition.
Still, Sutherland said this GATT agreement "will mean more trade, more investment, more jobs and larger income growth for all," he said.
Economists believe all this trade liberalization holds out the promise of expanding global output by $6 trillion over the next decade, $1 trillion of that in the United States.