P.M. BRIEFING : Germany May Be Top Exporter
The head of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade said today that Germany is likely this year to again replace the United States as the world’s biggest exporting nation.
Top GATT official Arthur Dunkel said global economic strength depends on a free trading system, and Germany therefore has special responsibilities in the troubled Uruguay Round of trade liberalization talks.
The negotiations are scheduled to end Dec. 7 but are deadlocked over agriculture, with Germany in particular resisting a European Community offer to reduce huge farm export subsidies as the United States and other nations have demanded.
Reforming agricultural trade is a “critical” part of the Uruguay Round but “five weeks away from the end we are nowhere near this goal,” Dunkel said.
He noted that Germany replaced the United States in 1986 as the world’s biggest exporting nation and held the position in 1987 and 1988, with the United States moving back into the top spot in 1989.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
