Clinton Adviser Will Represent Wheat Industry At Trade Session Mickey Kantor To Serve As Trade-Meeting Counsel

Wheat has a new high-profile advocate in international trade. Mickey Kantor, adviser to President Clinton, internationally known trade attorney and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. trade representative, will work with the U.S. wheat industry at the World Trade Organization sessions.

The WTO meeting, perhaps the largest trade session ever held in the United States, is scheduled for Seattle in November. The meeting will help set global trade ground rules for well into the next century.

Key to securing Kantor’s services for its industry was the Washington Wheat Commission.

After working with Kantor to convince China to eliminate trade barriers against Pacific Northwest wheat, the group thought the attorney might agree to serve as counsel for the WTO meetings.

Wheat industry advocates say their trade needs are too diverse for them to handle with just the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We want to make sure U.S. negotiators understood them and knew they were a top priority,” said Chris Shaffer, a Walla Walla farmer and chairman of the U.S. Wheat Associates. “Our trade needs are much larger than just one facet of our government.”

For representing the 17 wheat-producing states, Kanto will be paid $20,000 a month with money from many of the wheat commissions.

“Some are not participating because of their financial straits,” said Tom Mick, executive director of the Washington Wheat Commission. But the Washington commission figured Kantor’s fee into its budget ahead of time.

Idaho’s wheat commission also is contributing to Kantor’s fee. “We took a look at the last time the WTO process was conducted and realized we pretty much left everything up to the government,” said David Sparrow, commission administrator. “I don’t think the producers were particularly happy with the results.”

Sparrow noted that Canada and Australia still have government- supported wheat trading systems and that European crops are highly subsidized - all unfair, he said, to U.S. wheat farmers trying to compete in the same markets.

When it comes to understanding and negotiating trade, Kantor’s qualifications are top-notch.

“He knows the people within the U.S. Trade Representatives office. A lot of them used to work for him,” Shaffer said.

One of Kantor’s more notable achievements as trade representative was restarting the stalled WTO round in Uruguay several years ago. There the existing trade rules for the 134 WTO member nations were set.

And as a board member of Monsanto Corp., one of the world’s leading agriculture and agrichemical companies, Kantor already has ties into the agriculture industry.

“He has a lot of connections and a lot of reputation,” said Neal Fisher, administrator for North Dakota’s wheat commission. “We think he’s very well-placed and well-respected.”

But some question Kantor’s connections.

“There has been this close time between agriculture advocacy and the Trade Representative’s office,” said Beth Burrows of the Edmonds Institute, a nonprofit, public interest group that focuses on legally binding international policy and biotechnology and agriculture issues.

She points out that the man who once formulated trade policy is now working for groups whose economics were affected by the laws he helped create. And as a member of the board for Monsanto, one of the world’s largest agriculture and chemical companies, he was paid $90,000 last year.

But one economist said such connections for former government officials such as Kantor are inevitable.“There are two questions,” said Peter Morici, a senior fellow at the Economic Strategy Institute and former director of economics at the U.S. International Trade Commission. “One is how long it has been and two, did they regulate the company in the context of doing their jobs?”

He said it isn’t likely Kantor has violated any law or responsibility with his affiliations. “Mr. Kantor’s been out of the government a long time now,” Morici said. “Mr. Kantor’s a smart guy. He’s not going to break the rules.”

“There’s also the issue of whose side is he on?,” he said. “If he’s assisting American companies abroad, I don’t know if he’s operating counter to American interests.”

Kantor’s office said he was not available to be interviewed for this article.

“We have a range of clients we represent, but we don’t like to release them” said Michael Punke, an attorney with Kantor at the Mayer, Brown and Platt firm in Washington, D.C. “The practice is centered around helping predominantly U.S. interests that are trying to get access into foreign markets.”

For the wheat industry, Kantor and a team of attorneys will help develop a strategy and help ensure the industry is well-represented by U.S. negotiators at the WTO trade talks.

Seattle is just the kickoff for the new round of negotiations, Punke said. “Seattle is kind of the starting line not the finish line.”

PRO AND CON DIFFERING VIEWS “He has a lot of connections and a lot of reputation. We think he’s very well-placed and well-respected. - Neal Fisher, administrator for North Dakota’s wheat commission. “There has been this close time between agriculture advocacy and the Trade Representative’s office.” - Beth Burrows of the Edmonds Institute.