Now that 116 nations have cleared the way for the biggest trade deal in history, here come the second-guessers.
Basically, their tactic is to raise doubts about the new trade pact to lower trade barriers by wondering if there isn't room to improve it despite the seven years spent in reaching the present compromise.Did the United States, for example, sacrifice too much by putting off a fight to get American films and TV shows into France? Or did Americans win more than they lost by getting Europe to cut subsidies to aircraft makers?
Could angry farmers bring down the government of Japan in response to Tokyo's agreement to lift its ban on rice imports? Is the government of France in big trouble, too, for agreeing to limit farm subsidies?
Though these are legitimate questions and it's understandable that they are making big headlines, such concerns miss the mark.
While there's room for reasonable people to disagree over which governments and industries are winners and losers from the new General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the biggest winner of all should be beyond dispute. It's the average consumer.
By increasing competition and lowering the prices for imports in addition to reducing tax subsidies for various products, the GATT pact is eventually expected to expand the global economy by more than $200 billion a year.
The United States can reasonably expect to get the lion's share of such benefits.
Besides consumers, the chief American winners from making foreign markets more accessible should include the makers of pharmaceuticals, tractors, medical equipment and chemicals.
The American winners should include not only corporate giants such as Proctor & Gamble and McDonnell Douglas but also smaller companies that increasingly depend on exports as a way to grow.
Of course, there are bound to be some American losers, too - most importantly, clothing and textile manufacturers, who would lose import-tax protection and quotas. Many U.S. jobs in these fields are bound to wind up being exported.
That's why congressional approval of GATT cannot be taken for granted. President Clinton had better be prepared to fight just as hard for the new global trade pact as he did for the more limited North American Free Trade Agreement involving the United States, Canada and Mexico.
For most Americans, the new GATT accord should mean that their paychecks go farther as the price of imports falls along with customs duties. Congress cannot reject the pact without in effect declaring war on most American consumers.