S-1807.1                   _______________________________________________

                                            SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5512

                              _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1993 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Trade, Technology & Economic Development (originally sponsored by Senators M. Rasmussen, Erwin, Bluechel, Skratek, Sheldon and Snyder)

Read first time 02/19/93.

Studying the impact on state businesses of international trade agreements.

          AN ACT Relating to study of international trade agreements; creating new sections; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  The legislature finds that the most recent round of negotiations on the general agreement on tariffs and trade and the North American free trade agreement of 1992 have the potential for significant impact on the state's small manufacturing and export firms.

          It is the purpose of this act to provide information to the state's small businesses on the increased opportunities as well as increased competitive threats posed by recent international trade agreements.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  (1) The business assistance center in the department of trade and economic development shall undertake a study of the impact of the Uruguay round of the general agreement on tariffs and trade and the North American free trade agreement on the state's small manufacturing and export firms.  The study shall:

          (a) Focus on the competitive threats and opportunities presented by the trade agreements to the state's six most significant traded sectors as measured by the number of employees in the sector and the aggregate dollar volume of goods and services traded in the sector;

          (b) Identify the competitive advantages and weaknesses of the state's firms in each of the six sectors;

          (c) Identify the competitive advantages and weaknesses of the most competitive firms in each of the six sectors;

          (d) Project the number of jobs which may be created or lost within each of the six sectors as a result of the agreements;

          (e) Project the potential gain or loss of state revenue from each of the six sectors as a result of the agreements;

          (f) Discuss the effect of the agreements on the trade surplus or deficit, whichever is appropriate, for each of the six sectors, as well as the state's overall balance of trade;

          (g) Identify those sectors, or firms within sectors, which exhibit the greatest potential to move their operations out-of-state as a result of the agreements;

          (h) Identify what measures, if any, can be undertaken domestically to improve the competitiveness of each of these sectors under the agreements; and

          (i) Identify traded sectors other than those comprising the six most significant that are presented with competitive advantages and exhibit significant potential for growth as a result of the agreements.

          (2) The department shall identify and utilize in the study existing analyses, studies, and data from the federal government, national and state business and labor organizations, and educational and policy institutes.

          (3) The department of trade and economic development shall report the findings of the study conducted under this section before July 1, 1994, to the senate committee on trade, technology and economic development and the house of representatives committee on trade, economic development and housing.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  The sum of forty-five thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund to the department of trade and economic development to carry out the purposes of this act.

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