Nineteen countries convened in Ottawa, Canada, on June 30 in a little-noticed meeting to consider the threat to their various cultures posed by the United States. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss ways to distinguish culture from ordinary commerce, with the goal of denying American entertainment exports easy access to their markets.

• Organized by Canada, the participants included America's closest friends -- among them Mexico, Britain, Brazil, Iceland and Sweden.

• The U.S. was not invited -- ostensibly because we do not have a cabinet-level cultural ministry as the others do -- but was eventually allowed to send observers.

• Invitations had been extended to about 40 countries, with 19 accepting.

The participants reportedly want to form a special partnership with enough influence to ensure that culture is treated as an important characteristic of a nation's identity -- and thus, that cultural products are exempted from the requirements of free trade agreements. The participants apparently wanted to keep the U.S. out for fear it would argue that any attempt to ban entertainment imports is a restriction on trade.

It is reported that Canada's attempts to protect its culture have often infuriated the U.S. Four of five magazines sold on newstands in Canada are foreign, primarily American; three-quarters of the music played on the radio is imported; and 96 percent of the movies shown are foreign -- mostly from Hollywood.

Last year the World Trade Organization rejected Canada's attempt to impose an 80 percent excise tax on profits from Canadian firms advertising in local editions of American magazines.