Lesson10FreerTrade,withLuck1.InthepastfewdaysdifferencesbetweentheUnitedStatesandtheEuropeanCommunityonfarmtradehavenarrowedalmosttonothing.AsaresulttheworldisnowclosetoconcludingtheUruguayroundofGATTtalks.Thatdealisadmittedlyfarfromperfect,aseriesofmessycompromises.Thecauseoffreetradewillhavemanymorebattlestofight.Nevermind.OnaconservativeestimatetheUruguayroundwouldpermanentlyraiseglobalwelfarebymorethan$100billionayear,spureconomicgrowtheverywhere(especiallyintheworld’spoorestcountries)andextendcompetitiontohithertosheltered,andthereforebackward,partsofalleconomies.Byanystandards,itwouldbeahugelyvaluableachievement.在过去的几天中，美国同欧共体之间有关农产品贸易的分歧几乎荡然无存。因此，关贸总协议乌拉圭回合的谈判现已接近尾声。诚然，协议远不够完善，仅是对一系列棘手问题的妥协。争取自由贸易的事业还有许多仗要打。不过，不必担心。依据保守的估计，乌拉圭回合协议将持久地每年为全球增加1,000多亿美元的财富。而且，还会刺激各国的经济增长（尤其是世界上最贫困的国家）。同时，它将贸易竞争扩展到那些迄今仍坚持保护主义政策并因此而落后的国家。无论依据何种标准衡量，这都是一个价值巨大的成就。2.Suchopportunitiescometoorarelytobesquandered.Yetthisonestillmaybe.Inthemostrecenttalksaboutfarmtrade,Americahasshownanewwillingnesstocompromiseondetails,doubtlessreflectingGeorgeBush’sneedforaneconomicsuccesstoboastofinhiselectioncampaign.WhateverthemotiveaspiritofcompromisemakessenseforAmerica,sinceitstandstogainalotmorefromasuccessfulroundthananyothercountry.ButtheECcontinuestohesitate—becauseofFrance.Frenchfarmersareviolentlyopposedtothereformofthecommonagriculturalpolicy(CAP)thatEurope’sgovernmentagreedtolastMay.Incertainrespects,thefarmersclaim,theGATTdealnowinprospectwouldtakereformfurther,damagingtheirinterestsevenmore.这样的机会不容错过。然而，这次机会仍差点被错过。最近，在有关农产品贸易的谈判中，美方多次表示愿意在细节问题上做出妥协。这无疑反应了布什总统需要一个经济成果，以便在大选中吹嘘。不管动机如何，做出妥协这一主导思想对美国是有意义的，因为谈判的成功给美国带来的利益要远大于其他任何国家。但是，由于法国的原因，欧共体仍旧犹豫不决。法国农民强烈反对改革欧洲各国政府于去年五月通过的共同农业政策。他们声称，在某些方面，正在酝酿中的关贸总协定的协议会将改革进一步深人，因而给他们的利益造成更大损害。3.IfitisasmallmattertoFrance’sfarmersthattheUruguayroundshouldfail,solongastheykeeptheirsubsidies,thatisunderstandable.Whatisshamefulisthattheirgovernmentappearstoagreewiththem,eventhoughmostoftheFrencheconomy(includingmanyofthecountry’smoreefficientfarmers