The multilateral trade system has secured worldwide economic growth and opportunities for Americans that have contributed to our own economic success.

The multilateral trading system historically has been one of the most significant catalysts for worldwide economic growth.

• In the half century following the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), global trade has expanded more than 14-fold, fueling a six-fold rise in world gross domestic product.
• Since 1950, countries that have liberalized their trade rules have experi-enced annual growth rates that were, on average, 1.5 percent higher than the preliberalization growth rate in each country.
• Exports, which accounted for only 8 percent of worldwide production in 1950, garner a 26 percent share today.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements, established by the Uruguay Round of trade negotia-tions, have generated new opportunities for American workers, farmers and businesses.

• The Uruguay Round, the eighth and most recent round of world trade negotiations, was completed in 1994 and required a one-third reduction in foreign tariffs on manufactured products, bringing manufactured good tariffs to their lowest rates in history.
• WTO rules expanded export opportunities for U.S. agricultural products by reducing tariffs, quotas, subsidies and a variety of other government restrictions that acted as barriers to foreign markets.
• The Uruguay Round widened foreign market access for U.S. service providers. As the world’s leader in trade in several services, the United States especially has benefited from increased openness in sectors such as computer services, telecommunications and finance. In 2003, the United States enjoyed a surplus of services exports (over imports) of $59.4 billion.
• The WTO’s new rules established protections to safeguard one of America’s most indispensable assets — our new ideas. Intellectual property rights protections ensure U.S. drug producers are able to profitably research new lifesaving drugs, U.S. artists are fairly compensated for their work and U.S. software developers are rewarded for producing new innovations.
• The Uruguay Round also established an effective set of rules for the prompt settlement of disputes among WTO members, which hold countries accountable for meeting their obligations.

The new trade rules developed in the Uruguay Round have contributed to U.S. economic success.

• The U.S. Trade Representative estimates that since the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of international trade negotiations in 1994, American exports of goods and services have grown by more than $300 billion as a result of lowered trade barriers.
• The resulting gains from trade of the Uruguay Round and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have increased the annual income of an average American family by $1,000 to $1,300.

Congress and the president must build upon this remark-able history of success and improve U.S. prosperity in the worldwide economy by reaffirming America’s participation and leadership in WTO.