EDITOR
Doug Kouma
OPINION
EDITOR
Anne Hjersman
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Doug Peters
MattMUdte
Paula Lavigne
Mitch Sherman
Anthony Nguyen
I
Rephrase it
Most favored nation'
is a trade misnomer
From The Minneapolis Star Tribune
If asked which countries enjoy the most
favored tariff treatment from the United States,
a majority of Americans would identify those
that have been granted MFN status—“most
favored nation”—by the U.S. Congress. They
would be mistaken.
It’s true that MFN countries (the designation
includes all but a small handful) get a substan
tial break on exterminate tariffs required by the
Smoot-Hawley Thriff Act of 1930. But Canada,
Mexico and Israel get much more beneficial
treatment under free-trade agreements they
have worked out with the United States.
Developing nations also enjoy a special
trade status more beneficial than MFN. The
Caribbean Basin Initiative and the Andean
Ttade Preferences Act treat countries in those
regions to similar advantages. Most favored
nations aren’t most favored.
Nor does' MFN actually describe the country
whose trade relationship to the United States is
being discussed. For example, if a decision is
made to grant MFN status to China, it means
simply that the United States will extend to
China the best general tariff deal it extends to
any other nation—the most favored one. As
almost all countries have received that guaran
tee from the United States, the MFN designa
tion allows normal trade relations, not special
benefits.
But that s not what the term implies to many
Americans, with unfortunate consequences.
Regularly, U.S. trade policy is warped by the
mistaken notion that MFN ensures some very
special relationship.
Unschooled in the nuances of the MFN
designation, members of the public — and
some political leaders—resist what they think
about unwarranted U.S. blessings for nations
whose policies are antithetical to U.S. interests
and values.
Getting rid of the misunderstanding that
MFN generates would be simple if the problem
were recognized as linguistic. The U.S. Senate
did just that: It unanimously approved legisla
tion co-sponsored by all 20 members of the
Finance Committee that would substitute the
phrase “normal trade relations” for “most
favored nation.” Seldom does such a small
change, endorsed by so many across such a
wide span of political philosophy, offer so
much.
A prime mover behind the legislation, Sep.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., made the
essential point: “Since the 18th century,
. American trade policy has been one of nondis
crimination; the vast maj ori ty of our trading
partners receive treatment equal to all others.
Not most-favored treatment, but normal
treatment. And, hence, we proposed the term
‘normal trade relations’ in hopes that it will
lessen the confusion when we discuss trade
matters.”
As Moynihan took pains to emphasize, the
change in terminology does not affect American
trade policy at all. It merely brings the language
used to describe that policy in line with reality.
The House can embrace common sense and
encourage rational discourse by joining the
Senate in this move to remove “most favored
nation” from the country’s trade lexicon.
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/ ' '
. \ . ’
$iK
Sonia
HOLLIMON
Big city blitz
Reliefs spelled N-E-B-R-A-S-K-A
Let the Muppets take Manhattan
—I’ll stay right where I am.
I just spent an all-expenses-paid
week in sunny California, and it was
everything TV said it would be. I got
to ride around in limos with big
network news people like ABC news
anchor Carole Simpson and execu
tives at the top of their fields—
people who could get me a job. A
real job. I stuffed myself with free
daiquiris (virgin, of course, like a
good Nebraska girl), shrimp cock
tails, pate, crab puffs, stuffed
mushrooms—a real finger food
fantasy.
Tlie servers at the banquets even
put my napkin—linen, naturally—
on my lap for me, and I never paid
for a taxi because I quickly figured
out that if I rode with an executive,
their expense account would cover it.
There were palm trees lining the
streets, as well as homeless people
lining the palm trees. There were
even hors d’oeuvres and drinks on
the chartered bus for our free trip to
Disneyland.
So why wasn’t I impressed?
Perhaps it all started with the plane
ride. I was stuck between some
retired Air Force guy from Texas
who wanted to give me a tour of
Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and
Colorado from his window seat, and
a woman from New York who had
just been to Jean Louis David.
Needless to say, I was toast fbr
two hours from Denver to LA.
International. She kept whispering “I
wish he’d shut up! All this chatter is
ruining the effects of my
aromatherapy.” Then she would
u
I’m certainly not
ungrateful for my
trip to Los Angeles,
don’t get me
wrong.... But all
that schmoozing
and boozing will
wear a body out.”
moan a little and rub her scalp—
careful not to muss her hair, though.
Captain America, cm the other hand,
kept trying to point out the Air Force
Academy and Pike’s Peak. From the
plane. It was so very Brady.
Between the two of them, I was
grateful for the safety talk and the
, blessed distraction of breakfast.
Veggie special for her, charred flesh
on a biscuit for him. I opted for a
fruit cup.
I’m certainly not ungrateful for
my trip to Los Angeles, don’t get me
wrong—the shopping in the Fashion
District was my ticket out of Christ
mas shopping at the mall this year,
and I’ve never been one to turn down
free food. But all that schmoozing
and boozing will wear a body out. I
used to want to be a lobbyist, but
now, I know better. High heels
everyday and (gasp!) makeup all the
time. My mom threatened to disown
me if I took my overalls. With the
holidays so close, I figured it was
better to lose the battle.
So after all the glamour and the
glitz, I was surprised that I was so
eager to come home. I didn’t even
tell anybody at the conference where
I was from. Well, not after I told this
one guy and he yelled, “Go Husk
ers!” for all to hear. Ah, the never
ending effect of the Big Red rash.
While I enjoyed lunch at the
Rodeo Drive Cafe, and Beverly Hills
was nice, I longed to come home and
rake up a big pile of my neighbor’s -
leaves and jump in them, cm- grab
some fries from Runza and plan a
trip to go out to the pumpkin patch to
fight over who’s gonna get the
* biggest pumpkin with my friends.
Even though I made sure to get my
name on the back of my Mickey
Mouse ears, I guess it’s true what
they say—there is no place like
Nebraska.
Hollimon is a senior broadcast
ing major and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
