THE APPROVAL of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) marks a great victory for America's billionaire families in their fight to defend their share of the world market. Because of the eco nomic decline of the US, US share of world trade has declined dramatically.
In 1970, the US produced 13 percent more than Japan and the countries now in the European Union (EU). Today the US produces one-third less than those competitors, leaving US* trade with its highest trade deficit for several years.
Over the last decade, new trade blocs have built up. Japan's investments in Asia have tripled. In 1983, it invested just $2 billion, mainly in Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Last year it invested $6 billion, mainly in Indonesia, southern China and Malaysia.
At the same time the now-unified Germany is the heart of the EU and has influence throughout eastern Europe. The EU and the Japanese-dominated Asian bloc are the major challengers to the USdominated North American blac The battle over world trade is a product of inability of big out of the economic recession which has now lasted for 20 years. The recession has hit Europe hard. Germany exports fell 10 percent last year, and production fell six per cent.
Devaluation of EU currencies has hit US and Japanese exports, but the failure of European Monetary Union has put the EU countries at a disadvantage.
Without the unified economic policy that EMU was neoded for, the European-wide corporations lack institutions strong enough to defend their interests. This has encouraged confused nationalist and protectionist responses in Europe to the US trade offensive.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) sounded the opening guns of a US offensive against European and Japanese protectionism. Clinton's Democratic Party government has also overseen a massive offensive against working people in the US.
Labour costs in the US are 30 per cent lower than most of their competitors. Productivity is 17 per cent higher than Japan and 21 per cent higher than Germany. Four million jobs have been cut in the US since 1980.
America's defensive billionaire families have now opened a world trade offensive. NAFTA aids the deepening penetration of Mexico by US and Canadian capital, giving the US more leverage in attempts to force open markets abroad.
At November's conference of Pacific Rim countries, NAFTA was used to advance the US's now-successful campaign to open markets for rice in Japan and Korea.
NAFTA also puts up barriers to competition with Mexico from EU countries and Japan.
The US especially aimed to There is no suggestion of free trade with Cuba increase agricultural exports and sales of TV and films through the GATT deal. The GATT negotiations had been running since 1990. European politicians especially emphasised the threat from US culture. Hollywood earns $4 billion each year from European sales and the head of the US news network CNN said it intended to 'conquer' Europe.
Civilisation
The response to the US campaign was startling. Belgian premier Willy Claes argued the threatened opening up of Europe to US TV and films meant 'the defence of our civilisation is at stake.
In France, the Socialist Party's Jack Lang, former minister of culture, said It's war, and in a war our nation must stand together'.
The ultra-right Front National organised attacks on the US-owned McDonalds restaurant chain. Spanish Culture Minister Carmen Alborch has forced cinemas to screen one day of European films for every two or three days of US-made pictures, prompting a strike by owners of Spain's 1,800 cinemas.
TV and movies were excluded from the GATT deal agreed last month, prompting French Prime Minister Eduard Balladur to say the 'the cultural identity of Europe is protected'.
In exchange however the French government agreed to cut its agricultural production by 21 per cent over the next six years. This is a major gain for US agribusiness, which will remain protected at home by 'anti-dumping' laws.
Cuba
The effects of the GATT deal - like this cut in agricultural production - show that the real aim of the US offensive is not free trade but managed trade. There is no suggestion of free trade with Cuba, 35 years after that country took the road to socialism.
NAFTA has the words 'Free Trade' in its name, but it includes tariffs on wheat and peanut butter from Canada and on orange juice from Mexico. US trade barriers are being lowered only over 15 years.
Added to the existing depression, the GATT deal and coming protectionist trade war is bad news for the developing countries. Already the recession means that demand for primary materials is very low. That cuts export earnings and increases the poverty built up by the massive third world debts.
Trade blocs will also create difficulties for the working class in the imperialist countries. Blocs carve up those who work in the cities and on the land internationally, making easier for the ruling rich to weaken international solidarity. Protectionism often encourages restrictions of immigration and travel.
None of the capitalist carveups of world trade are in the interests of working people and their allies.
Our task is to build the international collaboration of the oppressed: for the cancellation of the third world debt, for a cut in the working week without pay cuts to provide employment for all, to make the ruling rich pay for their crisis. tens and after-school supervision.
Many creches have been closed down. Others have been privatised so that only the rich can afford them.
Having to look after children is part of the explanation of why unemployment is higher among women. Women are 51 per cent of the workforce, but 75 per cent of the unemployed.
Womon's Jobs
But as the labour force is cut back, women are put out of work first. Why should women be employed when men are unemployed, asked Russian employment minister G.Milikyan three months ago.
The IMF is demanding much higher levels of unemployment to push through its market reforms. The Fund says: "In other East European countries unemployment has reached 12-14 per cent [whereas in Russia It is about 3.9 per cent -Ed]. KILLER diseases such as Working collectives are still too stable, and although the standard of living has fallen sharply, it has not fallen as sharply as the fall in production, and is therefore still too high....?
The brutal logic of restorIng capitalism could not be explained better. Under the old bureaucratic system, despite its inequalities, there were real gains for the workIng class in terms of social and health services, security of employment and the price of basic necessities like rent and food.
Now all that is going. The 'stability of the work colleclive' which the IMF refers to is the resilience of the nationalised industries. A key target of the pro-market reforms is to bankrupt them and 'shake out' their labour force. the food needs of most ordi-