Summary: The Final Act resulting from the Uruguay Round of negotiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was signed on April 15, 1994. Because Congress will be considering legislation to implement the Final Act for the United States, GAO reviewed the negotiating objectives for the round, assessed what was accomplished, and analyzed the projected impact the Final Act would have in a number of areas. This second of two volumes is a reference document that (1) discusses the original trading problems that led to the Uruguay Round negotiations; (2) identifies the U.S.' specific negotiating objectives; (3) presents the results of negotiations as provisions of the final agreement; (4) analyzes the likely impact of the agreement, including whether it resolves the original trading problems; and (5) discusses issues that remain in contention and those that require further study. In GAO's view, the Final Act could produce overall economic gains for the United States, although some sectors of the U.S. economy would shoulder a disproportionate burden as a result of foreign competition. For example, four different studies have projected job losses, ranging from 72,000 to 255,000 over 10 years, for the textile and apparel industries under complete trade liberalization. Because the Final Act is expected to dislocate workers, their needs must be considered. Both deficit reduction and liberalized trade are important to the long-term health of the U.S. economy. Finding offsets to the five-year tariff revenue losses as required by the Budget Enforcement Act would preserve the overall economic gains of the Final Act and maintain deficit neutrality.
