Compendium of Reactions to Seattle

December 6, 1999

Reactions poured in from officials who attended the Seattle talks. France says no deal is better than a bad deal. Wildlife Federation president says the postponement of further talks indicates "fundamental" reforms are needed. Many delegates blame President Clinton for the collapse of talks. Australia is "disappointed" but cites progress nonetheless. And the success of protesters could mean further demonstrations against the trade agreement between the United States and China.

A REUTERS article referred to a statement by French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine. "The absence of a result at this stage is preferable to a bad agreement, Vedrine said. "Europe was right not to renounce that position (of "ambitious, coherent and constructive" talks) nor to accept the launch of a truncated agreement that would have opened in bad conditions."

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said the failure of the talks should not be over-dramatized but added that the fault lay with the world's top players. "This failure is above all attributable to those countries, some of them very large, which did not seek an attitude of compromise (between the demands of developing countries and those of the European Union)," he said.

Jose Bove, France's leading farm activist, said the Seattle meeting "is a real victory of a unified people...a victory against an imposed world order." He said the WTO would have to deal much more with public opinion in the wake of Seattle.

National Wildlife Federation President Mark Van Putten said trade ministers "conceded that fundamental WTO reforms are necessary before proceeding with any further trade liberalization talks," according to BLOOMBERG NEWS. "For over a year, the National Wildlife Federation has identified basic environmental reforms that must be made to establish public confidence in the international trade system and allow trade liberalization to continue...the future is on our side. You can't turn back the clock."

Many delegates blamed President Clinton, according to a REUTERS report. "It was the Americans," said a EU official. "They were so determined to drive through their own agenda that they were blind to where this would lead."

But U.S. official said labor issues "shouldn't be used to mask the fact that certain countries, other than the United States, were unwilling to be reasonable at the negotiating table."

Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile said progress was made despite the collapse of the talks. He said the result disappointed Australia, but added, "We have made (progress on) a number of other texts that had been worked on..."

"Australia will continue to push hard for the further opening of markets for agriculture and processed foods, for the elimination of export subsidies and for cuts to trade distorting domestic subsidies," Vaile said.

Something of an ominous warning came from a REUTERS report that suggested the collapse of the round could strengthen the hand of labor and environmental groups as they lobby Congress to reject the Clinton Administration's trade deal with China.

Labor leaders said Seattle was only the beginning of their campaign to sink the China deal. "I look for more demonstrations in Washington to bring out people and say, `Hey, this is a serious problem, we're not buying it,'" Teamsters Union President James Hoffa said in a CNN interview.

The Seattle protests also could signal more demonstrations against any WTO trade agreement whenever and wherever talks are held.