CAFTA: Exporting American Jobs & Industry

The U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement will provide a substantial competitive advantage to U.S. agriculture
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"almost 80 percent of products from Central America already enter the United States duty-free, partly because of unilateral preference programs such as the Caribbean Basin Initiative and the Generalized System of Preferences.

What's new about CAFTA is that it opens markets to the remaining 20 percent of goods and services, and for the first time opens markets for farm products from the United States."

"According to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates CAFTA could expand U.S. farm exports by $1.5 billion a year."

Source:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jackkemp/jk20050321.shtml

The CAFTA/Free trade contras are the usual suspects when it comes to crying rivers over the belief that the US is now a net importer of food and that American farmers are truly suffering. CAFTA presents a clear opportunity to ameliorate this alleged problem but all they can do is carp about a perceived conspiracy of wage arbitrage being inflicted on workers by US businesses and the inevitable lost jobs.

It would seem that consistency is not a protectionist virtue.

So rather than side with a loyal American, these are the bedfellows you keep:

In a speech to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations Schroeder dwelled on the need for barrier-free trade. "One thing is clear: The answer cannot be protectionism "Schroeder said seizing the best economic opportunities even if it means the departure of jobs "is part of a cultural change ... but this has to come and be accepted by an open society."

Like George Soros' open society?

Amid calls from poor countries for the elimination of agricultural subsidies, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged representatives of 180 nations to push for free trade agreements that will raise global living standards.

Is Kofi Annan your cup of tea?

Excellent spin idea! Contact Rush and Hannity immediately!

I have no idea of what you are talking about. Regards,

The official CAFTA text is freely available from the US Trade Representative's Office:

http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/DR-CAFTA/DR-CAFTA_Final_Texts/Section_Index.html

Per Fast Track rules this is the FINAL text of the agreement that Congress gets only a YES or NO vote on. No revisions allowed.

Here are some excerpts of the agreement that should give pause to anyone who gives a rip about who makes the laws in our country.

PREAMBLE The Governments of...resolve to:

BUILD on their respective rights and obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization and other multilateral and bilateral instruments of cooperation;

CONTRIBUTE to hemispheric integration and provide an impetus toward establishing the Free Trade Area of the Americas; (editor's note: the word economic does not fall before the word integration and nowhere in the document is the US exempted from this integration process.)

Article 16.1: Statement of Shared Commitment

1. The Parties reaffirm their obligations as members of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and their commitments under the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-Up (1998) (ILO Declaration).1 Each Party shall strive to ensure that such labor principles and the internationally recognized labor rights set forth in Article 16.8 are recognized and protected by its law. (editor's notes: US labor law currently only meets two of the eight ILO fundamental principles. The UN's ILO is not a free market think tank.)

As noted in above posts, CAFTA actually expands the NAFTA Tribunal arbitration system which has now begun over ruling Supreme Court judgments in our country. This is not about fluoride in the water. Here is a taste of that wording that shows the arbitrary nature to the "free trade" system established in CAFTA and the FTAA: Article 20.6: Request for an Arbitral Panel ...The Parties shall establish within six months of the date of entry into force of this Agreement and maintain a roster of up to 70 individuals who are willing and able to serve as panelists. Unless the Parties otherwise agree, up to eight members of the roster shall be nationals of each Party, and up to 14 members of the roster shall be selected from among individuals who are not nationals of any Party. The roster members shall be appointed by consensus, and may be reappointed. Once established, a roster shall remain in effect for a minimum of three years, and shall remain in effect thereafter until the Parties constitute a new roster. The Parties may appoint a replacement where a roster member is no longer available to serve....

...2. Unless the disputing Parties otherwise agree, the panel shall conduct its proceedings in accordance with the Model Rules of Procedure. 3. The Commission may modify the Model Rules of Procedure.

You do not have to be an international trade lawyer to recognize this is not an agreement about the kind of "Free Trade" any Austrian School economist would recognize. It is more like establishing the rules of franchise entry and competition in the NFL.

If you were at the negotiation table you will do well. If you were not at the table, rest assured that you were on it.

The William Grigg article is correct in pointing out the inherently socialist nature of this agreement that creates an elaborate system of managed trade.

If you don't like the source of the evidence just read the Jeb Bush led Florida FTAA Inc. promotions that tout the 26,000 jobs and $500 million dollars a year of revenue the FTAA Secretariat will bring to the city it chooses to call home.

True Free Trade does not take 26,000 new bureaucrats to create and $500 million a year for starters is not "free".