Eight U.S. congressmen have initiated a campaign to get U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky to raise the issue of runway production at the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks which will begin next month (Nov. 30-Dec. 3) in Seattle. The move is in line with an earlier-reported push to get a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee panel to recommend that the U.S.’ loss of filming to foreign countries be put on the WTO agenda (SHOOT, 9/17, p. 1).
Congressmen Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) have been involved in both efforts, lobbying House Ways and Means members as well as being three of the eight congressional representatives to sign and circulate a "Dear Colleague" letter that at press time was seeking additional legislator signatures before being presented to Barshefsky. The other five congressmen who authored and signed the correspondence were Reps. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), Gary Condit (D-Calif.), David Dreier (R-Calif.), Robert T. Matsui (D-Calif.) and Howard McKeon (R-Calif.).
This coalition of congressmen contended that runaway production should be considered in a balance-of-trade context. In their letter, they accused Canada of practicing "protectionism" by maintaining "trade barriers" that limit airtime for U.S. TV shows on Canadian outlets while at the same time offering tax and employment incentives "to lure jobs in the movie and television industry away from the U.S."
The letter claimed that this is contrary to the "free and fair" global trade policies the U.S. has consistently advocated. Furthermore, the eight congressmen wrote that runaway production merits discussion at the WTO meeting in that film and television production are central to the economic prosperity of the U.S.
Canadian officials have defended their incentive packages to attract filming as legitimate means of generating economic growth, and have claimed that the extent of runaway production from the U.S. to Canada is not nearly as much as the $10.3 billion impact (for calendar year ’98) reported in a Directors Guild of America- and Screen Actors Guild-commissioned independent study (SHOOT, 7/9, p. 1). Canada has contended that the overriding economic factor drawing American biz to the Great White North is the current favorable exchange rate on the U.S. dollar.
