Thread: U.S. Immigration Policy on the Table

Sarah Anderson | November 30, 2005

Editor: John Gershman, IRC


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Foreign Policy In Focus
www.fpif.org

In the contentious negotiations leading up to the December 13-18 World Trade Organization (WTO) summit, the big drama has centered around agricultural trade and whether the richer countries will grant expanded market access to commodities from the Global South. However, there has also been a battle brewing between developing countries and the U.S. government over immigration. Led by India , several countries are demanding expansion of U.S. visa programs for temporary professional workers.

How did immigration wind up on the table at the WTO? Under the global trade body's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), governments can regulate the supply of services performed by foreigners. The technical term for this type of service trade is Mode 4. Thus far, the types of visas being discussed are those for executives and highly skilled professionals, such as Indian software engineers who have come to work in the Silicon Valley and other high-tech hubs in the United States . Some developing countries are pushing for the Mode 4 talks to cover less-skilled workers as well.

The wrangling over visas is just one more example of the WTO's mission creep. Global trade rules are no longer aimed merely at eliminating tariffs on goods that cross borders. The ultimate goal of GATS, for example, is to lift barriers to all manner of services by curbing national and local government controls on the entry of global banks, insurance companies, and other service providers into each country's markets. Other WTO rules limit government efforts to offer affordable generic medicines or to protect native plants and traditional handicrafts from being patented for profit by global businesses. And any domestic law, including public interest regulations, can be challenged under WTO rules as “an unfair barrier to trade.”

With the Hong Kong WTO summit only weeks away, negotiators appear to be deadlocked on many issues. Regarding Mode 4, the White House has thus far committed only to maintaining its current level of H-1B professional visas—65,000. To no one's surprise, Washington is also holding steady on the L-1 program, which grants an unlimited number of visas for professionals transferring from one division to another within the same company.

Although the Bush administration's reluctance to expand its visa offer has been a disappointment to Indian and other developing country trade negotiators, U.S. officials might still be planning to use Mode 4 expansion as a bargaining chip. The time for pre-summit creative deals is running short, but the Mode 4 matter is not expected to go away. No matter what happens in Hong Kong , the issue is bound to re-emerge in future talks.

The inclusion of migration in WTO discussions has stirred up a complex debate featuring unusual bedfellows. Powerful U.S. corporate lobbyists have sided with developing country governments in favor of expanded Mode 4 access. On the other hand, many progressives here and abroad, including WTO critics and migrant rights groups, have come down on the same side as anti-immigrant groups and some congressional Republicans.


http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/2962

"Mode 4"

???????????

Is there a Mode 5?

What were Mode 1, 2 and 3?

Lordy, Lordy...we are already in MODE 4 of OWG?

SUPERMAN, WHERE ARE YOU?

I've wondered for a long time when this crap was going to hit us between the eyes!!

This group of excrement - our illustrious Congress and administrations {plural}- have sold our collective soul!!!

Originally Posted by Judy

"Mode 4"

???????????

Is there a Mode 5?

What were Mode 1, 2 and 3?

Lordy, Lordy...we are already in MODE 4 of OWG?

SUPERMAN, WHERE ARE YOU?

Good question Judy. I'd like to know about Mode 1,2,3 and 5 as well. Let us know if you can find anything.

W

http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/ser ... il02_e.htm

SERVICES: SYMPOSIUM — 11-12 APRIL 2002
Movement of natural persons (mode 4) under the GATS
Joint WTO-World Bank Symposium, Geneva, 11-12 April 2002
In 2001, the Council for Trade in Services tasked the Secretariat with organizing a Symposium on “Movement of natural persons (mode 4) under the GATS” and agreed that the event would be planned and sponsored jointly with the World Bank.

The symposium was intended to provide a platform for information exchange and discussion on different aspects of mode 4 trade. It brought together government officials, representatives of international organizations, academic researchers and private sector experts. Presentations addressed GATS provisions and commitments in relation to mode 4, the economic implications of further liberalization of the movement of natural persons and the challenges and opportunities it presents.

Current regimes for the temporary entry of services providers in selected countries were also outlined. The protagonists of mode 4 trade, in home and host countries, and government officials responsible for regulating the temporary entry of persons presented their views. A panel discussion with trade negotiators closed the event. The Symposium was held on 11 and 12 April 2002.

Note:
Downloadable files in Word format and pdf (portable document format).

> Guide to downloading files.

N.B. You should download these
documents rather than calling them into view through the browser since the formatting may change (eg. paragraph numbering) when viewed through the browser.

Programme and background materials back to top


Thursday, 11 April 2002

10:00-13:00
Opening remarks by the Chairman

Andrew L. Stoler, Deputy-Director General, WTO Secretariat


Introduction to the Symposium

Aaditya Mattoo, Senior Economist, World Bank
PowerPoint presentation


1. GATS, Mode 4 and the Pattern of Commitments

Antonia Carzaniga, Economic Affairs Officer, WTO Secretariat
PowerPoint presentation
Paper


2. Mode 4 and the GATS — Challenges and Opportunities

B.K. Zutshi, Former Ambassador of India to the WTO Richard B. Self, Senior International Advisor, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld
PowerPoint presentation
Paper


3. Economic Implications of Mode 4 Trade

Alan Winters, Professor, School of Social Sciences, University of Sussex
PowerPoint presentation
Paper

15:00-18:00
4. Current Regimes for Temporary Movement of Services Providers

Julia Nielson, Administrator, Trade Directorate, OECD
PowerPoint presentation
Paper
Paper
Paper

Jolita Butkeviciene, Economic Affairs Officer, Trade in Services, UNCTAD
PowerPoint presentation

5. Mode 4 Trade — The Protagonists' View
Mark Hatcher, Director, Global Regulatory and Professional Affairs, PricewaterhouseCoopers, UK
Paper

Suwit Wibulpolprasert, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand
PowerPoint presentation
Paper

Josephine J. Francisco, President, NYK-Fil Ship Management, The Philippines
PowerPoint presentation
Paper



Friday, 12 April 2002

10:00- 13:00 5. Mode 4 Trade — The Protagonists' View (continued)

Enos Brown, Chief Information Officer, HEART Trust/NTA, Jamaica
PowerPoint presentation
Paper

Mike Waghorne, Assistant General Secretary, Public Services International
PowerPoint presentation
Paper

Pierre Page, President, Teknosoft, Switzerland
PowerPoint presentation
Paper

Vaibhav Parikh, NASSCOM, India
PowerPoint presentation
Paper


6. Mode 4 Trade — The Regulators' View

Paul Henry, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canada
PowerPoint presentation
Paper

Torsten Christen, German Ministry of Labour, Germany
PowerPoint presentation
Paper

Howard Ronald Dobson, US Department of Labour, United States
PowerPoint presentation
Paper

Ivan Lambinon, Department of Home Affairs, and Mario Ambrosini, Advisor to the Minister of Home Affairs South Africa
Paper

15:00- 17:00
7. Final Panel — Overview

Moderator — Hamid Mamdouh, Director, Trade in Services Division, WTO Secretariat

Members' representatives — Canada, India, the Philippines and Switzerland

contact us : World Trade Organization, rue de Lausanne 154, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland

"THE WTO" GATEWAY What is the WTO? Ministerial Conferences Decision making Membership WTO Secretariat Anniversary events For developing countries Annual publications Jobs in the WTO Glossary How to contact the WTOCurrent newsEvents calendarArchivesTRADE TOPICS GATEWAY Goods Services Intellectual property Dispute settlement Doha Development Agenda Accessions Civil aircraft Competition policy Development Electronic Commerce Environment Government procurement Investment Regional trade agreements Trade policy reviewsRESOURCES GATEWAY Trade statistics Economic research & analysis Publications WTO distance learning WTO Library Terminology database Glossary Guide to downloading Webcasting Podcasting LinksDOCUMENTS GATEWAY Legal texts Official documents GATT documentsCOMMUNITY GATEWAY WTO forum For journalists For NGOs For studentssearch the WTO websitesearch Documents Onlinesite indexsite mapsubscribeunsubscribechange details

________

http://www.wto.org/English/res_e/reser_ ... 0407_e.htm

RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS: WORKING PAPERS

The Impact of Mode 4 on Trade in Goods and Services

This paper estimates the impact of liberalization of temporary movements of individual service suppliers on trade in goods and services. In particular, the paper looks at the impact of the so-called forth mode to provide a service on trade in services under the other three modes: cross-border service supply (Mode 1), consumption abroad (Mode 2) and commercial presence abroad (Mode 3). Estimates are obtained using a gravity model of trade augmented for a measure of temporary movements of service suppliers. Estimates of the size of a country’s Mode 4 trade in services are based on specific information regarding the number of temporary foreign workers occupied in the service sector and their estimated average earnings, thus overcoming the limitations of traditional measures of Mode 4 based on remittances or compensation for employees. We find a positive and significant effect of temporary movements of service providers on merchandise trade and services trade under Mode 1 and 3. No significant relationship is found between services trade under Mode 2 and Mode 4.

> Guide to downloading files

No: ERSD-2004-07

Author:

Marion Jansen and Roberta Piermartini — WTO

Manuscript date: November 2004

http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/39331.pdf

CRS Report to US Congress on WTO Negotiations and Doha Deveopment Round which includes Mode 4 immigration issues....dated August 4, 2004.

Powerful U.S. corporate lobbyists have sided with developing country governments in favor of expanded Mode 4 access.

This is certainly no surprise. The "cheap labor" thingy just isn't going to go away. Of course "cheap labor" is a relative term. Some people invision "cheap labor" as the low wages payed to unskilled workers, but skilled American workers can also be brought to suffer by "cheap labor" proponents. Why pay an American software technician $70,000 a year when you can pay an Indian (India) $38,000? What used to be considered a respectable business profit is no longer considered acceptable - now corporations and businesses demand the right to fully maximize their profits. Huge corporate profits, fewer employee benefits, exceptionally high CEO pay and stock options, job & company outsourcing, etc. are evidence of this. Corporate American think tanks are continously devising ways to increase profits and "cheap labor" is the foundation for maximizing profits.

It's no surprise that many of our congressional representatives operate the way they do, especially with the corporate lobbyist beating their doors down daily with offers to support pet projects, bring business operations to states (more jobs & enhanced tax base), donate to campaign war chests, etc., etc. Politics doesn't have to be a dirty business, but unfortunately time, money, and owed favors seem to slowly chip away at common decency, moral values, and integrity. Those individuals weak of character don't have a chance in the lions den. IMO, the one way to prevent much of this political corruption is TERM LIMITS!

WE MUST WITHDRAW IMMEDIATELY FROM THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION.

These people in Geneva at WTO are countryless Nomads without a home. They are worldwide global economic planners who have already sold their souls for a salary and a job in a safe wealthy neutral country that happens by the way to have very strict immigration laws and enforces them to the letter.

Originally Posted by Judy

WE MUST WITHDRAW IMMEDIATELY FROM THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION.

These people in Geneva at WTO are countryless Nomads without a home. They are worldwide global economic planners who have already sold their souls for a salary and a job in a safe wealthy neutral country that happens by the way to have very strict immiration laws and enforces them to the letter.

JUDY
great work!!
Should NEVER have been pushed into this anti-American agreement.
WTO/Fed Reserve/World Bank = INTERNATIONAL LAW and the destruction of our Supreme Court as an end result.

Chip, Chip, Chipping away at our Constitution

What a mess........what a tangled web they have woven thinking that we'd never be able to {or want to} untangle it and point the finger back at them.