CLINTON SIGNS CARIBBEAN PACTS; AGREEMENT WILL HELP IRKED ISLAND NATIONS FIGHT DRUGS, BOOST TRADE.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. President Clinton signed modest drug-fighting and trade agreements Saturday with Caribbean leaders irritated by Washington's diminishing interest since the end of the Cold War. Clinton pledged ``a deeper process of Caribbean cooperation.'' The three-hour meeting was billed as the first U.S.-Caribbean summit, and there were pointed reminders that the region has felt neglected. Clinton said the U.S. commitment was ``as deep as the waters that link our shores.'' Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, the chairman of the Caribbean Community, remarked that ``no relationship, however valuable, will endure forever if taken constantly for granted. . . . In the closest of families, difficulties are bound to arise from time to time.'' The meeting concluded with upbeat assessments. ``History will recall this summit as having forged a new and a lasting bond between the people of our nations and those of the United States of America UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The name of this country. The United States, now thirty-one in number, are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, ,'' Prime Minister Owen Arthur Owen Seymour Arthur, MP, BA, MSc. (born 17 October 1949) is the current Prime Minister of Barbados. He is leader of the Barbados Labour Party, which brought him to victory in general elections in September 1994. He won general elections again in January 1999 and 2003. of Barbados said. On a prickly trade issue, Caribbean nations complained they have lost tens of thousands of jobs because of the benefits Canada and Mexico enjoy under the North American Free Trade Agreement North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), accord establishing a free-trade zone in North America; it was signed in 1992 by Canada, Mexico, and the United States and took effect on Jan. 1, 1994. . Clinton promised to ask Congress for NAFTA-like tariff preferences on Caribbean textiles, leather goods and other products currently excluded from duty-free treatment under the Reagan-era Caribbean Basin Initiative The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) was a unilateral and temporary United States program initiated by the 1983 "Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act" (CBERA). The CBI came into effect on January 1 1984 and aimed to provide several tariff and trade benefits to many Central . Caribbean leaders were angered last week by a U.S.-sought ruling from the World Trade Organization against special trade preferences given by the European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community to Caribbean banana imports. Some small island nations that rely on the banana trade with Europe said the ruling could wipe out their economies. Clinton said the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. supports duty-free access to the EU market for Caribbean bananas - but will continue to oppose preferences that give European marketing and distribution firms an advantage over U.S. companies. He said the United States was targeting ``a discriminatory European system, not Caribbean bananas.'' |
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