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200 | <s>[INST] Argentine Judge Insists on Testimony The Argentine judge investigating allegations that the local unit [/INST] of International Business Machines paid bribes to win a state contract insisted yesterday that four executives from IBM's U.S. headquarters must give evidence in Buenos Aires. </s> |
201 | <s>[INST] IBM said Wednesday the four executives were ready to give [/INST] evidence in the U.S., but it said they were "not Argentine citizens nor employees of IBM Argentina". </s> |
202 | <s>[INST] He is probing allegations that IBM Argentina paid [/INST] bribes to win a $250 million contract in 1993 with state-owned Banco Nacion. </s> |
203 | <s>[INST] BRIEFLY: -- Mexican electoral authorities will set up a committee [/INST] to study how laws could be changed to give the vote to Mexicans living or working abroad. </s> |
204 | <s>[INST] -- Uruguay's economic output rose 5.1% [/INST] in 1997 from a year earlier, the central bank said. </s> |
205 | <s>[INST] ___ Document 101 of 500 U.S. Aims to Reassert Influence Over [/INST] Latin Trade Author: By Craig Torres Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 14 Apr 1998: A17. </s> |
206 | <s>[INST] accountid=28034 Abstract: The FTAA is the most ambitious attempt by the [/INST] U.S. to integrate itself more deeply into Latin trade since the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. </s> |
207 | <s>[INST] While Latin leaders support the FTAA, they are [/INST] working harder these days on their own regional agreements, where the U.S. has little influence. </s> |
208 | <s>[INST] The reason: A loss of confidence in U.S. [/INST] leadership on trade since Congress denied President Clinton "fast track" authority in November. </s> |
209 | <s>[INST] Fasttrack authority means that Congress must [/INST] vote on trade accords as negotiated by the cabinet without amendment. </s> |
210 | <s>[INST] Latin American leaders convening for the summit believe [/INST] the White House will have fast-track authority by the FTAA deadline in 2005. </s> |
211 | <s>[INST] While negotiating timetables are set for [/INST] the FTAA, the efforts to strengthen regional accords are picking up. </s> |
212 | <s>[INST] For example, Mercosur -- a trade bloc whose members are Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay [/INST] and Paraguay, with Chile and Bolivia as associate members -- is initiating a new round of trade talks with Andean and Central American nations. </s> |
213 | <s>[INST] Full text: BUENOS AIRES -- At a time when commerce is [/INST] growing with Latin America, the U.S. finds itself in the awkward position of having diminished influence over Latin trade policies. </s> |
214 | <s>[INST] President Clinton will try to [/INST] regain the U.S. initiative in Santiago, Chile, this week. </s> |
215 | <s>[INST] The Chilean capital is host to the second Summit of the Americas, where the president [/INST] will start negotiations on the Free Trade Area of the Americas, an attempt to create a common market among 34 countries with 800 million consumers by 2005. </s> |
216 | <s>[INST] The FTAA is the most ambitious attempt by the U.S. to [/INST] integrate itself more deeply into Latin trade since the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. </s> |
217 | <s>[INST] While Latin leaders support the FTAA, they are [/INST] working harder these days on their own regional agreements, where the U.S. has little influence. </s> |
218 | <s>[INST] The reason: A loss of confidence in U.S. [/INST] leadership on trade since Congress denied President Clinton "fast track" authority in November. </s> |
219 | <s>[INST] Fasttrack authority means that Congress must [/INST] vote on trade accords as negotiated by the cabinet without amendment. </s> |
220 | <s>[INST] "What we predicted would happen in the absence of fast [/INST] track is happening: an acceleration toward subregional arrangements, which exclude the U.S.," says U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky. </s> |
221 | <s>[INST] "We have taken ourselves out of the picture at the point in [/INST] time when we are the world's most competitive economy and at a time when this hemisphere is ready to move in our direction". </s> |
222 | <s>[INST] Latin American leaders convening for the summit believe [/INST] the White House will have fast-track authority by the FTAA deadline in 2005. </s> |
223 | <s>[INST] While negotiating timetables are set for [/INST] the FTAA, the efforts to strengthen regional accords are picking up. </s> |
224 | <s>[INST] For example, Mercosur -- a trade bloc whose members are Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay [/INST] and Paraguay, with Chile and Bolivia as associate members -- is initiating a new round of trade talks with Andean and Central American nations. </s> |
225 | <s>[INST] For local economies, there are [/INST] huge benefits to deepening regional trade deals. </s> |
226 | <s>[INST] Growth is so strong that U.S. companies can't [/INST] do nothing while they wait to compete in the lower-tariff regime of a future FTAA. </s> |
227 | <s>[INST] Instead, they are moving plants into South [/INST] America to operate within the low tariff structures of Mercosur, for example. </s> |
228 | <s>[INST] The U.S. is also concerned that regional accords pay little [/INST] more than lip service to important issues such as respect for intellectual property, patents and environmental safety. </s> |
229 | <s>[INST] The Washington trade group Phrma estimates that [/INST] U.S. drug companies lose $500 million a year to piracy in Argentina alone. </s> |
230 | <s>[INST] "If the U.S. isn't in the position to shape these arrangements, that would [/INST] be at the expense of the hard-working men and women of this country," says Thomas "Mack" McLarty, President Clinton's special envoy to the Americas. </s> |
231 | <s>[INST] The U.S. remains an enormously [/INST] attractive market for any country in Latin America. </s> |
232 | <s>[INST] But expectations shape economies, and regional accords are advancing [/INST] because Latin America's private sector is also taking a much closer look at hemispheric markets. </s> |
233 | <s>[INST] Argentine retail groups now run [/INST] grocery store chains in Chile, and vice versa. </s> |
234 | <s>[INST] YPF SA, the Argentine oil concern, is expanding [/INST] all over the region in a quest to become a Latin American oil giant. </s> |
235 | <s>[INST] "We are seeing a much more strategic look at [/INST] Mercosur" by local companies, says Michael Liikala, counselor for commercial affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Argentina. </s> |
236 | <s>[INST] "They are supportive of the FTAA, [/INST] but to our chagrin they are looking at another strategy". </s> |
237 | <s>[INST] Adds, Raul Rivera, head of Boston Consulting Group's Buenos Aires office: "The [/INST] FTAA is an idea that may come to fruition if all the stars align and all the political things go right. </s> |
238 | <s>[INST] Mercosur is here, it is a [/INST] reality, and there are a lot of companies betting on it". </s> |
239 | <s>[INST] --- A Commonality of Interests While [/INST] Trade Agreements in the Americas Sometimes Exclude the U.S. ... </s> |
240 | <s>[INST] Trade agreements involving Central and Latin American countries -- Free Trade [/INST] Area of the Americas (pending): aims to create a common market between 33 countries and the U.S. by 2005. </s> |
241 | <s>[INST] -- North America Free [/INST] Trade Agreement: Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. </s> |
242 | <s>[INST] -- Mercosur: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay [/INST] and Paraguay; Chile and Bolivia participate as associate members. </s> |
243 | <s>[INST] -- Andean Community: Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, [/INST] Colombia and Bolivia; Panama plans to join this year. </s> |
244 | <s>[INST] -- Central American Common Market: [/INST] Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. </s> |
245 | <s>[INST] Sources: Global Trade Information Services; Office of [/INST] U.S. Trade Representative Credit: Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal </s> |
246 | <s>[INST] ___ Document 111 of 500 World Watch Author: Compiled by [/INST] Paul J. Deveney Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 08 Apr 1998: A17. </s> |
247 | <s>[INST] accountid=28034 Abstract: One of Australia's two major dock operators and the government have [/INST] been trying to reduce the influence of trade unions in Sydney and other key ports in an effort to cut the high costs of exports. </s> |
248 | <s>[INST] Yesterday Patrick Stevedores made an attempt [/INST] to resolve the labor issue once and for all. </s> |
249 | <s>[INST] It dismissed its entire unionized work force [/INST] of 1,400 employees, following a series of strikes against the company. </s> |
250 | <s>[INST] But the most interesting twist in all this is that the move [/INST] won the whole-hearted support of the government, which views the action as part of an industrywide effort to restructure the nation's docks. </s> |
251 | <s>[INST] Hong Kong's provisional legislature rushed through a measure in its final [/INST] days that grants China's official news agency and a few other Chinese government bodies exemptions from the territory's laws. </s> |
252 | <s>[INST] The Hong Kong government says the change is merely a "technical" [/INST] move that will transfer to the state the legal immunity that the British Crown enjoyed for so many years. </s> |
253 | <s>[INST] But others say it will undermine Hong Kong's autonomy from the rest [/INST] of China and create a legal system in which other entities connected with the mainland could also be above the law. </s> |
254 | <s>[INST] Some businessmen say they fear [/INST] that mainland-backed Chinese companies could eventually enjoy legal immunity. </s> |
255 | <s>[INST] In a major boost for Indonesia, Japan's Export-Import Bank pledged [/INST] $1 billion in loans to that nation for companies that need help getting back on their feet. </s> |
256 | <s>[INST] It's the first such commitment from the [/INST] Japanese institution to Indonesia since the Asian currency crisis erupted last summer. </s> |
257 | <s>[INST] The money could be dispursed within weeks, depending [/INST] on progress made in talks between Indonesian officials and the International Monetary Fund. </s> |
258 | <s>[INST] Jakarta was poised to announce a revised [/INST] economic-reform program today that it hoped would win the confidence of investors. </s> |
259 | <s>[INST] Two earlier bailout plans stumbled amid concerns that President [/INST] Suharto was avoiding the tough decisions needed to end Indonesia's worst economic crisis since the 1960s. </s> |
260 | <s>[INST] Full text: ASIA/PACIFIC Australia Backs Wholesale Firing Of Dock Workers One of Australia's two major dock [/INST] operators and the government have been trying to reduce the influence of trade unions in Sydney and other key ports in an effort to cut the high costs of exports. </s> |
261 | <s>[INST] Yesterday Patrick Stevedores made an attempt [/INST] to resolve the labor issue once and for all. </s> |
262 | <s>[INST] It dismissed its entire unionized work force [/INST] of 1,400 employees, following a series of strikes against the company. </s> |
263 | <s>[INST] But the most interesting twist in all this is that the move [/INST] won the whole-hearted support of the government, which views the action as part of an industrywide effort to restructure the nation's docks. </s> |
264 | <s>[INST] Canberra said the wholesale dismissal of the workers -- who were immediately replaced by [/INST] contracting out the work -- would give Australia "the opportunity to have a waterfront which will allow us to compete against the best in the world". </s> |
265 | <s>[INST] Trade-union officials disagree, signaling that the move would [/INST] spark further strikes by the Maritime Union and other labor unions across Australia. </s> |
266 | <s>[INST] The nation's stevedoring industry has been dominated for years by two companies, [/INST] Patrick and the Australian unit of Britain's Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation, both of which hire dockworkers from the same union. </s> |
267 | <s>[INST] Hong Kong Uneasy Over Exemptions Hong Kong's provisional legislature rushed through a [/INST] measure in its final days that grants China's official news agency and a few other Chinese government bodies exemptions from the territory's laws. </s> |
268 | <s>[INST] The Hong Kong government says the change is merely a "technical" [/INST] move that will transfer to the state the legal immunity that the British Crown enjoyed for so many years. </s> |
269 | <s>[INST] But others say it will undermine Hong Kong's autonomy from the rest [/INST] of China and create a legal system in which other entities connected with the mainland could also be above the law. </s> |
270 | <s>[INST] Some businessmen say they fear [/INST] that mainland-backed Chinese companies could eventually enjoy legal immunity. </s> |
271 | <s>[INST] Japan Ex-Im Bank to Help Indonesia In a major boost for Indonesia, [/INST] Japan's Export-Import Bank pledged $1 billion in loans to that nation for companies that need help getting back on their feet. </s> |
272 | <s>[INST] It's the first such commitment from the [/INST] Japanese institution to Indonesia since the Asian currency crisis erupted last summer. </s> |
273 | <s>[INST] The money could be dispursed within weeks, depending [/INST] on progress made in talks between Indonesian officials and the International Monetary Fund. </s> |
274 | <s>[INST] Jakarta was poised to announce a revised [/INST] economic-reform program today that it hoped would win the confidence of investors. </s> |
275 | <s>[INST] Two earlier bailout plans stumbled amid concerns that President [/INST] Suharto was avoiding the tough decisions needed to end Indonesia's worst economic crisis since the 1960s. </s> |
276 | <s>[INST] China's Growth Target May Be Too High China is aiming to achieve [/INST] economic expansion of 8% this year, but a leading Chinese economist says growth of 5% to 6% would be closer to the mark. </s> |
277 | <s>[INST] Fang Hanting of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences [/INST] says Beijing is expecting too much from plans to reform the nation's vast housing sector. </s> |
278 | <s>[INST] Though the idea of shedding decades of communist thinking and letting the masses [/INST] buy their own homes will help the economy, he says it will only add about half a percentage point to growth in 1998. </s> |
279 | <s>[INST] That's because incomes are too low and [/INST] people still don't have enough savings to enter the housing market. </s> |
280 | <s>[INST] Rather, the economist says, the main [/INST] source of growth this year likely will come from increased investments. </s> |
281 | <s>[INST] Taiwan Is Poised for Lower Rates A lower-than-expected 1.6% rise in consumer prices in [/INST] Taiwan for the first three months of this year is expected to give the island more breathing room from the economic turmoil pummeling much of Asia. </s> |
282 | <s>[INST] Analysts say the latest figures indicate that interest rates [/INST] are poised to ease, promising a boost to an economy being hit by lower exports. </s> |
283 | <s>[INST] Economists had expected a far steeper rise in prices [/INST] in the wake of a more than 15% fall in the value of Taiwan's currency since October. </s> |
284 | <s>[INST] But stiff competition among retailers has made [/INST] it difficult for businesses to pass on higher prices to consumers. </s> |
285 | <s>[INST] BRIEFLY: -- Coca-Cola's India subsidiary expects to see sales grow 20% [/INST] this year, and like other soft-drink companies has been lobbying the government to lower the tax on beverage products. </s> |
286 | <s>[INST] -- Shanghai said its growth [/INST] in output was 8% in the first quarter. </s> |
287 | <s>[INST] It was the first time in [/INST] years that the city's official growth rate slipped into single digits. </s> |
288 | <s>[INST] --- THE AMERICAS IMF Urges Argentina to [/INST] Raise Taxes The International Monetary Fund sent a tough message to Argentina. </s> |
289 | <s>[INST] It urged the nation's leadership to take a series [/INST] of steps to clamp down on domestic consumption to avoid further deterioration in the country's trade accounts. </s> |
290 | <s>[INST] The IMF warned in a memorandum that the country's balance of trade [/INST] in goods and services could erode to a deficit equal to 4.75% of the nation's output if corrective measures aren't taken soon. </s> |
291 | <s>[INST] The international organization suggested Argentine authorities cut federal [/INST] spending, raise taxes, reduce bank lending and deepen reform of the nation's work rules. </s> |
292 | <s>[INST] But the government says it hasn't decided [/INST] what measures, if any, it will take to appease the IMF. </s> |
293 | <s>[INST] Spanish Bank Unveils Argentine Deal [/INST] Pursuing its Latin American expansion, Spain's Argentaria Corp. </s> |
294 | <s>[INST] Bancaria de Espana reached an agreement to [/INST] acquire 50% of Argentina's largest fund manager from Citicorp's Citibank for $280 million. </s> |
295 | <s>[INST] The New York bank will retain the remaining [/INST] 50% stake in Grupo Siembra, while sharing management responsibilities with Argentaria, Spain's third-largest banking group. </s> |
296 | <s>[INST] Meanwhile, a local newspaper reported that Citibank is also selling as much [/INST] as 15% of its majority stake in Argentine media company CEI Citicorp Holding, but the companies wouldn't comment on the reports. </s> |
297 | <s>[INST] Tequila Makers to Open U.S. Office To protect the integrity of [/INST] Mexican tequila and keep imitators at bay, makers of the fiery brew are opening a trade office in Washington. </s> |
298 | <s>[INST] The announcement comes only months [/INST] after a similar Mexican move in Madrid. </s> |
299 | <s>[INST] The director of the Tequila Regulatory Council in Guadalajara says the Washington venue [/INST] will allow the industry to lobby to ensure that the product is sold under "official norms" in the U.S. to protect the label. </s> |
Subsets and Splits