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TRANSCRIPT
Where do we start?
Resisting corporate globalization at the locallevel means identifying which corporate suit is inour neighbourhoods causing faceless problems
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Power Play atCancun and Miami
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U.S. Corporate PushersattheWTOandFTAA
Ministerials
Prepared by the Polaris Institutewww.polarisinstitute.orgSeptember 2003
Corporate Lobby Power
Ever wondered which U.S. corporations are working behind the scenes toensure that their interests are served through international trade agreementslike the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) or other World TradeOrganization (WTO) deals?
Corporations are combining their collective might to ensure they get thebenefits of these trade deals -not communities. By forming industrycartels large corporations are gaining tremendous access to governmentnegotiators.
Four such cartels described below are the principal U.S. pushers for theupcoming WTO (September 10-14, Cancun, Mexico) and FTAA meetings(November 19-21, Miami, Florida).
In addition we have developed a chart that exposes the corporate membershipof each of these cartels. The chart identifies specific corporate players hidingbehind the scenes of the negotiations. We hope this information will helpcontribute to local / global campaign actions before and during both theCancun and Miami mobilizations.
Council of the Americas
The Council of the Americas is a corporate lobby group made up ofover 140 of the largest corporations in the United States, which existsto help its member companies 'achieve their business goals throughoutthe Americas'.
Translation = remove barriers to corporate profit taking by opening uptrade and investment opportunities.
The Council of the Americas has the ear of the U.S. and othergovernments by "regularly hosting Presidents, cabinet ministers,central bankers, government officials, and leading experts in economics,politics, business, and finance..." Their powerful privilege affordscorporate members "unique access to information and insights intothe evolution of the region and, at the same time, helps governmentleaders understand the needs and perspectives of U.S. and internationalbusinesses."
The Council is actively involved in organizing the U.S. business
Corporation
Weil, Cotshal &Manges LLP
White & Case
WmWrigleyJr.
Worldcom (nowMCI)W.W. GraingerXeroxZemi Comm, LLC
Councilof theAmericas
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USCSI
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Additional Corporations:The following three corporations are included as additions to thelist above, as they are or have been key corporate players in theFTAA and WTO negotiations but are not currently in any of thecoalitions listed. Enron and Vivendi are marked as being in theUSCSI, and this is because they were key members for years, butfollowing their financial scandals and economic woes of the pastcouple of years, they ended their membership.
Corporation
Enron
VivendiUniversal
Suez
Councilof theAmericas
USCSI
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Prominent waterplayer in the EuropeanServices Forum (ESF),
the Europeanequivalent of the
USCSI
USCIBBRT
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Corporation
Sanford C.BernsteinSchering-PloughSchlumbergerSesame WorkshopShearman &SterlingShell Intl.
Sidley Austin Brownand WoodSkadden, Arps,Slate, Meagher, &FlomSkol & AssociatesScowcroft GroupStandard & Poor'sState Street Bankand TrustSteel Hector &Davis, LLPSullivan andCromwellTechint, IncTimken CompanyTishman SpeyerPropertiesTrust Company ofthe WestTycoUPSVerisignVerizonCommunicationsVintage PetroleumVisa Intl.
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community to influence the FTAA process. They are pushing hard toensure that the trade talks to establish the FTAA remain on schedule,and are fighting hard to ensure the package deal is in place by2005.
The Council recognizes the 'synergistic relationship' between the WTOand FTAA, seeing the negotiations for each as "mutually reinforcing".As an example of this, the Council recently testified to the U.S. Congressthat "success in the FTAA inevitably brings global players who fearbeing marginalized to the WTO table. Meanwhile, progress at the WTOon problems that are uniquely global in nature, such as subsidies, willcontribute to successful completion of the FTAA"
US Coalition of Services Industries (USCSI)
The U.S. Coalition of Service Industries (CSI or USCSI) is the largest servicesoriented lobby group in the United States. The CSI is a chilling example ofhow corporations have positioned themselves to strategically influence tradeagreements using their influential connections to government and politicians.The USCSI membership uses their collective power to aggressively lobbyfor business friendly rules to govern trade-in-services in the WTO's GeneralAgreement on Trade in Services (GATS) andthe services sections of the Free Trade Areaof the Americas (FTAA).
The new WTO Director General, Dr.Panitchpakdi has acknowledged theinfluence and power of the CSI "with itsextensive global network and influences inthe world... CSI has successfully servedto advance and secure the interests of itsmembers, more importantly, in shapingUS policies and promoting US interestswithin the international for it's members,thereby ensuring progressive global marketliberalization." [WTO Director General, Dr.S. Panitchpakdi, Feb 2002]
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As services make up over 50% of the world economy and thus represent alucrative market, the USCSI is a major pusher for the privatization of services,including public services, in both the GATS and FTAA negotiations.
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Business Roundtable (BRT)
The Business Roundtable is an cabal of chief executive officers ofthe 200 largest U.S. corporations. The BRT use their CEO power torecommend policy and lobby the U.S. Congress and Administrationon select issues, many regarding international trade and investment.They are zealous pushers for open borders for U.S. corporations,and to extend privatization. They recently launched a mediacampaign to convince America that more 'free trade' will be goodfor the country.
Through its collective clout the BRT is in a key position to pushthe U.S. government to follow the lead of U.S. business on manyissues, including trade and investment agreements as manefestedin the FTAA and WTO.
US Council on International Business (USCIB)
With its expressed purpose of getting business "a seat at the table",the US Council on International Business (USCIB) brings U.S. corporateinterests directly to U.S. policy makers and to "officials in the UnitedNations, European Union and a host of other governments andgroups".
They have built a global network of industry affiliations that doggedlypushes their views in a number of global forums around the world. The
Council is the U.S. affiliate of the InternationalChamber of Commerce and was one of the keypushers of the failed Multilateral Agreementon Investment (MAI). In addition, the ICCis currently one of the main architects ovf thenew investment agreement of the WTO.
Since the MAI, the USCIB has continued to bea major player in the effort for business-friendly trade and investmentagreements, as one of the key business coalitions pushing for theWTO anvd FTAA negotiations to help open up opportunities for U.S.businesses around the world.
Corporation
Miller & ChevalierMine SafetyAppliancesMorgan StanleyMorgan, Lewis,Bockius LLPMosbacher EnergyNestleNewsweekInternationalNew York Life Int'lNorleaseNorthwesternMutualO'Melveny & MyersLLPOraclePatton Boggs LLPPepsiCoPfizer, IncPharmaciaPraxairPricewaterhouseCoopers
Principal FinancialCroupProcter and GamblePSEG AmericasPublic StrategiesQuaker Fabric
Raytheon
ReutersSalomon SmithBarney
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Corporation
HSBC Bank USAIBMIngersoll-RandJ.Walter ThomsonCompanyJ.E. Robert Compa-niesJP Morgan Chaseand CompanyJohnson & JohnsonKansas CitySouthern IndustriesKissinger McLartyAssociatesKraft Foods Intl.Kroll IncLaredo NationalBankLatinSourceLehman BrothersLucentTechnologiesMcGraw-HillMaersk SealandManatt, Phelps, andPhillipsManchester TradeMarsh & McLennanCompaniesMayer, Brown,Rowe, & MawMcCann-EricksonWorldwideMcDonaldsMeadWestvacoMerck & CoMerill Lynch & CoMicrosoft Corp.
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Exposing the Corporate Lobby Membership
How to read the charts: All of the corporations listed are either in the Councilof the Americas or are in the US Coalition of Service Industries (USCSI), or both.The chart also denotes if these corporations are in the Business Roundtable(BRT) and/or in the US Council for International Business (USCIB).
Corporation
3m CompanyAbbottLaboratories
ABN AmroAccentureACE-lnaAESAlfaro-AbogadosAllen GlobalHoldings, LLC
American ExpressAmericanInternational Group
Anheuser-BuschAOL Time WarnerAON CorporationAPL LogisticsArcher DanielsMidland
Arnold and PorterAT&TAvon ProductsBaker and Bolts, LLPBank of AmericaBank of New YorkBCP SecuritiesBear Stearns & CoBell South Int'l
BIC CorporationBloomberg L.P.
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US Coalitionof ServiceIndustries
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AlsoonBRT
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Corporation
BOC GasesBoeing CompanyBPD InternationalBankBusinessWire LatinAmericaCargill, IncCaterpillarAmericasChevronTexacoChiquita BrandsIntl.Chubb CorpCignaCisco SystemsCitibankCleary, Gottlieb,Steen, & HamiltonCoca-ColaColgate-PalmoliveConocoContiGroupCompaniesCoors Brewing CoCorning IncCredit Suisse FirstBostonCromptonCurtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt &MosleDaimlerChryslerDebevoise &PlimptonDow Jones andCompanyDVI FinancialServices
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Corporation
Eastman ChemicalEastman KodakEDSEl PasoEli LillyErnst & YoungEuropeanInterAmericanFinance LLCExxonMobilFederal ExpressFleetBostonFinancialFluor CorporationFMCFord Motor Co.General ElectricGeneral MotorsLatin AmericaGenesee &Wyoming, IncGibson, Dunn, andCrutcherGlobal CrossingGoldman, Sachs andCoGoldstein, Golub,Kessler &CoGoodyear Tire andRubberGreenberg TraurigGuardian IndustriesHalliburtonHill & KnowltonHills & CompanyInt'lHoneywell
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