Prime Candidate for USTR

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A Prime USTR Candidate

In a bid to secure the position of United States Trade Representative, appearing at Davos can help to project the correct image. For the third year running Christine Todd Whitman attended the World Economic Forum at Davos. Thus far, she is the only U.S. governor ever to attend these meetings. A 53-year-old Republican moderate, Ms.Whitman has been a leading advocate of international trade liberalisation since becoming Governor of New Jersey.

New Jersey is the 8th largest economy in the United States, with a Gross State Product of US$327 billion. Hosting over 1,200 multinationals from 40 countries, foreign plants and facilities in New Jersey account for $27 billion in foreign direct investment. New Jersey exports US$22.7 billion worth of goods annually and invests over $30 billion in foreign ventures. Overall, nearly 600,000 jobs, or 15 percent of New Jersey's workforce, is the direct result of foreign trade and investment.

Since 1994, Governor Whitman has led trade and investment missions to the UK, Israel, France, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and the EU. The state has trade offices in Tokyo, London, Mexico City, and north of Tel Aviv at Ra'anana. In other words, both the state economy and Governor Whitman's resume are trade oriented.

Her second term is over in less than two years. She visited Texas in 1999 solely for a meeting with George Bush, ostensibly on party business. Though she insisted at the time no promises were made, the rumour mill has been active over the last two years. At one point in the fall of 1999, Mr. Bush appears to have considered her a potential vice presidential selection. Her name was also vetted for the role of Secretary of State, now awarded to Colin Powell. Interestingly, there have been reports that Colin Powell and Governor Whitman are developing a closer relationship.

Ms. Whitman is now signalling her trade policy priorities for the next four years. In June 2000, she made a speech in Kansas City stressing the elimination of foreign trade barriers to US products. However, it was her 1 May 2000 speech to the Council of the Americas' Conference in Washington, D.C. that did not go unnoticed. Ms. Whitman centred her remarks on trade in the western hemisphere. She said,

"…the next logical step after NAFTA is the creation of a Pan-American Free Trade Agreement. Unfortunately, however, the political dynamics in Washington over the past seven years have kept that goal out of reach. I believe, however, that the inevitable cannot be put off forever. It is becoming increasingly clear that such an agreement cannot be forestalled… …As I look out at the century that is just beginning to unfold before us, I believe that the future of our hemisphere will be largely defined by our success in opening up trade from 'northernmost Alaska to the tip of Cape Horn,' as Governor Bush stated so well last week." It was no coincidence that the previous week Governor Bush was in Mexico where he did emphasise that, "What is true between Mexico and the U.S. is true among all nations in our hemisphere. ... If I'm... elected president, we will create an entire hemisphere of free trade."

On trade linkage issues, she sees free enterprise as the principal saviour for addressing both labour and environmental concerns. In effect, Whitman as USTR would be unlikely to advance the labour and environment dossiers as direct agenda items for international trade negotiations. This accords with Dr. Supachi's view that such issues are best addressed outside WTO.

Governor Whitman argues that, while the US cannot ignore the labour conditions of workers abroad, neither "…is staying aloof from a country's troubling labor conditions by shutting down trade any better than ignoring those conditions while promoting trade…to build trade across the Americas, we need to try to match opportunities with needs…Having seen the fruits of free trade on my missions abroad, I know that extending it throughout the Western Hemisphere holds so much promise for all Americans, whether they live in Bogota, New Jersey or Bogota, Colombia.

If Whitman is chosen as USTR, readers are advised to consult Growing Up Republican: Christie Whitman: The Politics of Character, by Patricia Beard (HarperCollins, 1996).

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