ROSTENKOWSKI OPPOSES PROTECTIONIST TRADE BILL
House Ways and Means Committee
Chairman Dan Rostenkowski said Congress must avoid a temptation
to pass a protectionist trade bill this year.
    In remarks prepared for delivery before the National Press
Club, Rostenkowski, D-Ill., predicted major trade legislation
will be sent to President Reagan by the end of this year.
    But he warned that his "conciliatory message" on the trade
bill did not mean he would oppose a proposal that would warn
other countries their access to the American market would be
curtailed unless they opened their markets to U.S. goods.
    "Complaints about (foreign trade) restraints are not a
smoke screen for protectionism, they a plea for fairness,"
Rostenkowski said.
    "It is only reasonable to ask the nations that have denied
us access to open up in return for continued freedom in the
American market," he added.
    However, he said there would likely be changes in the
market access proposal from the plan which cleared the House
last year. That plan would have set a specific time table for
foreign countries to ease import restraints or they would face
a 25 pct cut in exports to the United States.
 Reuter
