TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1990 Barreda, William E., Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Trade Powers, Linda, Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce. Wilson, Bruce, Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Services, Office of the ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Multilateral Trade Negotiations The Uruguay Round, "Communications from the United States" dated October 17, 1989 Negotiations The Uruguay Round "Communications from Brazil, Chile, Co- lombia, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay" dated February 26, 1990 Services Policy Advisory Committee, presentation entitled "Status of Negotia- tions on the Structure of a General Services Agreement" dated March 1, Treasury Department, additional material. (V) URUGUAY ROUND NEGOTIATIONS ON FINANCIAL SERVICES Tuesday, July 17, 1990 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS SUPERVISION, TASK FORCE ON INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS OF U.S. FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, COMMITTEE ON BANKING, FINANCE, AND URBAN AFFAIRS, The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2 p.m., in room 2359A, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. John J. LaFalce [chairman of the task force] presiding. Present: Chairman LaFalce, Representatives Torres and Bereu ter. Mr. LAFALCE. The Task Force on the International Competitiveness of United States Financial Institutions will come to order. Today, our task force will hear from representatives of the Bush administration on two key issues affecting the ability of United States financial services firms to complete in global markets: One, the services agreement being negotiated as part of the Uruguay Round; and two, the issue of "financial dumping;" that is, the concern that foreign financial institutions may be selling financial services below cost in the United States market. Advances in computer and telecommunications technology are leading to the rapid globalization of the financial services industry. Companies need not look only to domestic providers for finance and financial firms can, at least in theory, follow their customers around the world. This globalization process has the potential to increase the efficiency of world capital markets and provide the widest possible array of financial services at the lowest possible price to consumers all over the world. This can occur, however, only if this new global market is an open market. The GATT has long been the multilateral mechanism through which countries have attempted to ensure an open world trading system, but the GATT has been slow in keeping up with the times. Long focused on issues in manufacturing trade, the GATT has historically not dealt with services and investment-areas that are becoming increasingly more important elements in world trade. The United States has, until recent years, maintained a clear competitive edge in the service sector. (1) |