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DaimlerChrysler Chairman Schrempp Calls for EU/US Free Trade Area

7 June 1999

New Transatlantic Relationship is Needed to Counter Rising Tide Of Protectionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic

       
European Union (EU) and United States (US) Must Overcome Differences, Focus
on Upcoming Seattle Trade Talks and Look Towards Eventual Establishment Of 
Free Trade Area

    PHILADELPHIA -- DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX) Chairman Juergen E. Schrempp today 
called for the EU and the U.S. to work towards the eventual establishment of a Free Trade 
Area as a way of revitalizing the transatlantic relationship and countering the rising 
tide of protectionism on both sides of the Atlantic.

    During a speech marking the 50th Anniversary of Philadelphia's World
Affairs Council, Mr. Schrempp said that the EU and the U.S. should eventually
abolish all remaining barriers to trade -- both tariff and non-tariff --
between Europe and the U.S. while working towards making the upcoming WTO
meeting in December and the Seattle round of trade talks following it the most
successful ever.

    "My idea is that our two great trading blocks should set a new, overriding
vision for their economic relationship: a Transatlantic Free Trade Area," Mr.
Schrempp said, "It is imperative we set ourselves the task of removing the
many remaining trade barriers and harmonize regulatory standards to the
benefit of workers, consumers and communities on both sides of the Atlantic."

    Mr. Schrempp added, "This over-arching objective could replicate, on a
transatlantic scale, many of the benefits that the single market has already
achieved in Western Europe."

    "Now more than ever the EU and the U.S. must have one goal in mind and
that is ensuring that December's WTO meeting culminates in the most far-
reaching global trade liberalization deal ever."

    Mr. Schrempp described the steady increase in calls for protectionism, in
the decibel level of trade disputes and increasing skepticism about the
benefits of globalization and said that the EU and the U.S. were in danger of
losing sight of important long-term strategic objectives.

    He added, "Isn't it ironic that at a moment when for the first time in
history German and American soldiers are fighting side by side in the NATO
alliance, Europe and the U.S. are at daggers drawn over trade issues?"

    Instead, Mr. Schrempp said, the foundations should be laid for global
companies such as DaimlerChrysler to create common ground and common interests
through wealth creation around the world.  He commented, "The battles of
tomorrow should be economic ... they should be about competition for markets,
not territory."

    In closing, Mr. Schrempp alluded to the role DaimlerChrysler is playing
bridging the Atlantic and called on others to do likewise:  "I have no
illusions about how difficult it will be to make this happen -- whether it is
a breakthrough in Seattle, or the longer-term goal of a Free Trade Area.  But
when we said we would merge Daimler-Benz and Chrysler there were plenty of
naysayers -- armchair experts -- who told us it would never work!"