Message-ID: <6624096.1075846394066.JavaMail.evans@thyme>
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 02:49:00 -0800 (PST)
From: lora.sullivan@enron.com
To: kenneth.cessac@enron.com, steven.kean@enron.com, terence.thorn@enron.com
Subject: WTO Notes
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Gentlemen:

Thought Don Deline's report would be of interest to you.  He plans on doing=
 a=20
report daily.  The demonstrators are out in force this morning and we plan =
to=20
stay as far away from them as possible.

Joe Hillings

---------------------- Forwarded by Lora Sullivan/Corp/Enron on 11/30/99=20
11:53 AM ---------------------------
  =20
=09
=09
=09From:  Chris Long                           11/29/99 08:29 PM
=09

To: Lora Sullivan/Corp/Enron@ENRON
cc: =20

Subject: WTO Notes



INSIDE (AND OUTSIDE) THE WTO

 The World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial meeting began yesterday in=
=20
Seattle =01) well, almost.  An event scheduled for Monday was delayed for f=
our=20
hours because of a breach of security. The official opening will not occur=
=20
until today but the =01&behind the scenes=018 meetings and negotiations beg=
an=20
Monday November 29th and will continue until December 3rd.  In reality, the=
re=20
are two events going on.  One is a circus / media event taking place in the=
=20
streets of Seattle and the second is the serious trade negotiations going o=
n=20
between the trade ministers of 135 countries.  There are many important=20
people appearing this week to include President Clinton.  Even Fiedel Castr=
o=20
has been invited to speak at the University of Washington which is located=
=20
less than a mile from the WTO activities.
 The circus events in the street are designed to sever the communications=
=20
between world trade officials and the rest of the world.  While it has its=
=20
comic side, its basic aim is anything but funny.  If the true story of trad=
e=20
cannot be told, the only view that the world gets of the WTO is that it is =
an=20
event not to be taken seriously.  The street events are sort of like the=20
shell on an egg.  They prevent you from seeing the egg itself but the shell=
=20
is not the substance of the egg.
 In an attempt to make certain the media events in the street do not succee=
d=20
as far as Halliburton is concerned, I will attempt to give you a fair and=
=20
balanced account of what is really going on for the next four days.  This i=
s=20
truly an interesting ministerial round of negotiations in that even Seattle=
=20
can=01,t seem to get a grip on what they stand for.  They bid on and won th=
e=20
right to host the WTO this year and it will mean millions in income for the=
=20
city.  There are signs along the streets welcoming the WTO.  At the same=20
time, the city of Seattle and the country it is located in, are heavily pro=
=20
union and they are sponsoring a huge =01&anti-WTO=018 rally.  They have gra=
nted=20
permits for anti-WTO parades on busy streets during rush hours which makes=
=20
many downtown workers less than happy.  These workers then vent their=20
frustration against the WTO for causing the streets to be blocked.  Life in=
=20
Seattle can best be described as =01&schizophrenic.=018 =20
INSIDE THE WTO
 Here is the =01&inside Story=018.  From November 30th to December 3rd, mos=
t of the=20
world=01,s trade representatives are meeting in Seattle in private.  Meetin=
gs=20
will not be in the open for fear of disruption.  Demonstrators then use thi=
s=20
fact to say the talks are secrete because they are really all about world=
=20
dominance.  The truth is that the trade ministers will be reviewing the=20
global trading system and attempting to insure its dynamism and=20
responsiveness in the years to come.  Talks actually began in Geneva earlie=
r=20
this year but the formal meetings to reach agreement will be this week.
 For 50 years, the WTO =01) formally known as the GATT for =01&General Agre=
ement on=20
Tariffs and Trade=018 has attempted to open world trade markets and set=20
predictable and stable rules for trade.  During this 50 year period, there=
=20
has been an 18 fold growth in international trade.  This was a reversal of=
=20
what is now widely recognized as disastrous policies of the 1930s when=20
increased trade barriers, discrimination among trading partners, and an=20
absence of agreed rules helped fuel the Great Depression.
 The beginning of this ministerial round finds some important issues to be=
=20
resolved in order to eliminate barriers that currently inhibit trade.  The=
=20
largest barrier is agriculture because European and Japanese farmers are=20
heavily subsidized so that they can compete with the United States.  The=20
United States Trade Representative (USTR) office listed seven other issues =
of=20
concern to be discussed and agree upon during the negotiations.  Most=20
important to Halliburton is the issue of services.  Our company performs=20
energy services all over the world but the WTO has never looked at trade=20
barriers in the energy services area.  The USTR representative present at t=
he=20
kickoff meeting on Monday morning was asked if energy services were being=
=20
discussed in this round and she assured us that it would be a significant=
=20
part of the new negotiations.  The USTR is hopeful that this week will end=
=20
with agreements between all parties as to the issues to be resolved over th=
e=20
next three years and they are confident of success.
OUTSIDE THE WTO
 A small band of demonstrators, most dressed like skeletons, animals, and=
=20
turtles, took to the streets on Sunday November 28th for a preview of thing=
s=20
to come.  They demonstrated in front of the GAP clothing store downtown.  (=
A=20
number of the demonstrators were seen to be wearing GAP jeans and jackets=
=20
under their skeleton suits).  They were demonstrating against GAP=01,s use =
of=20
=01&slave labor.=018  Street interviews indicated that no one was to articu=
late=20
about where these slaves were.  The crowd of about 200 was well organized, =
if=20
uninformed, and moved to an abandon warehouse where they broke into the=20
building in order to occupy it.  Police did not attempt to eject them =01) =
they=20
simply cut of the power and water to this old, concrete, damp, and cold=20
building.  In addition, homeless people through out Seattle were moved duri=
ng=20
the weekend for the duration of the WTO in order to allow demonstrators the=
=20
opportunity to occupy their places on the streets.  It seems many of the=20
demonstrators had neglected to make reservations elsewhere.  Rain is expect=
ed=20
Tuesday and Wednesday which should add to the demonstrators woes.
 Seattle morning news carried a very level broadcast listing the=20
environmental and labor demands of the demonstrators and also relating the=
=20
fact that $42 billion in trade is done by Washington each year.  $258 milli=
on=20
in grain alone was sold to Japan during 1998.  Somewhere in excess of 1/3 o=
f=20
Washington=01,s economy is based on foreign trade and they are now the thir=
d=20
largest trading state behind California and Texas.  This all adds to the=20
schizophrenia that is beginning to be known as Seattle.  =20