[Federal Register: May 21, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 98)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 27887-27890]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21my03-96]
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Part II
The President
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Proclamation 7679--World Trade Week, 2003
Presidential Documents
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Title 3--
The President
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Proclamation 7679 of May 16, 2003
World Trade Week, 2003
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Trade expands prosperity, helps raise millions from
poverty, and is an engine of economic growth within our
Nation and around the world. Trade injects new energy
and vitality into the global economy by fostering the
exchange of ideas and innovations among people around
the world. Free and open trade also helps promote peace
and security. During World Trade Week, we renew our
commitment to developing and implementing trade
policies that create new opportunities and promote
global economic growth.
My Administration is pursuing an ambitious trade agenda
that is restoring America's leadership in the global
trading system. We worked hard for the passage of the
Trade Act of 2002, which reinstated Trade Promotion
Authority after an 8-year lapse. Trade Promotion
Authority re-established the ability of the United
States to credibly negotiate comprehensive trade
agreements by ensuring that agreements will be approved
or rejected, by the Congress, but not amended. This
gives other countries renewed confidence in their trade
negotiations with the United States.
To extend the benefits of trade and to improve the
lives of people in our Nation and around the world, my
Administration continues to pursue global, regional,
and bilateral trade agreements. Through the Doha
Development Agenda negotiations at the World Trade
Organization, the United States is seeking to
strengthen the multilateral trading system, increase
market access opportunities, and promote global
development. Regionally, we are working to build on the
success of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) with the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which
will expand free trade benefits throughout the Western
Hemisphere. We are also encouraging the free flow of
trade and investment in the Pacific among our partners
in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In addition, we
are negotiating a free trade agreement with five
Central American democracies and will soon begin free
trade agreement negotiations with the Southern African
Customs Union to help spur economic growth in these two
regions. Bilaterally, I recently signed a historic free
trade agreement with Singapore--the first of its kind
between the United States and an Asian/Pacific country,
and we are finalizing a similar agreement with Chile.
Free trade agreement negotiations are also underway
with Australia and Morocco.
In America, trade is also critical to maintaining our
economic competitiveness in the global market. It has
been estimated that one in eleven American jobs--over
12 million--are supported by exports of goods and
services. In the 1990s, exports accounted for about
one-quarter of our economic growth. Our Nation's two
major trade agreements during this time, NAFTA and the
Uruguay Round, provided consumers with a greater choice
of goods at better prices, while raising living
standards for a typical American family of four by up
to $2,000 a year.
My Administration is also providing assistance to help
trade-impacted workers adapt to the challenge of
international competition. The Trade Adjustment
Assistance program helps trade-impacted workers gain or
enhance job-related skills and find new jobs. The
program provides eligible workers with up
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to 2 years of training, income support during training,
job search assistance, and relocation allowances.
World trade allows all nations to share in the great
economic, social, and political progress of our age and
provides a foundation for a more peaceful and stable
world. This week, we recognize the importance of free
trade in promoting prosperity and freedom in the United
States and around the world.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim May 18 through May 24, 2003,
as World Trade Week. I encourage all Americans to
observe this week with events, trade shows, and
educational programs that celebrate the benefits of
trade to our Nation and the global economy.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord two
thousand three, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and twenty-seventh.
(Presidential Sig.)B
[FR Doc. 03-12945
Filed 5-20-03; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P