Posted on 07/15/2005 8:36:53 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
President Bush's tour of a North Carolina textile mill takes him to the kind of business that critics say would be damaged by his free trade pact with Central America.
Ahead of that visit Friday, Bush was to meet at the White House with President Antonio Saca of El Salvador, one of the countries that is a party to the trade agreement.
The Central American Free Trade Agreement passed the Senate on a 54-45 vote two weeks ago. It could come up as early as next week in the House, where its fate is less certain. It faces near-solid Democratic opposition and only lukewarm GOP support.
Bush was scheduled to tour the Helms plant of R.L. Stowe Mills in Belmont, in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina, and then give a speech at nearby Gaston College. Both are in the district of Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., the only one of North Carolina's 13-member House delegation to publicly endorse the measure.
The trade agreement, signed by the United States a year ago, would end or sharply lower trade barriers with the five Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It would also apply to the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean nation.
The measure "is important to supporting emerging democracies in Central America," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
It would also help stabilize trade between the United States and the region, McClellan said. "Right now, when 80 percent of the imports from Central America come in here duty-free, that creates an unlevel playing field. We want to make sure the markets are open and that there's a level playing field."
North Carolina is one of the hotbeds of opposition to the pact, which is modeled on the North American Free Trade Agreement passed 12 years ago that established free trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Critics contend CAFTA will cost U.S. jobs by making it easier for U.S. companies to relocate operations in Central America, where labor costs are lower. The White House argues the opposite, asserting it will bring jobs to the United States.
Bush contends the pact would be "good for American workers, good for our farmers and good for small businesses" and "help increase sales abroad and job creation at home."
The textile industry is divided on CAFTA.
Some are opposed because of an inherent mistrust of any free trade deal. Others say it will help the U.S. industry because it will help Central American manufacturers, who buy material and yarn from the United States. Chinese textiles, by contrast, have little or no U.S. content.
CAFTA would further open a market of 44 million people by eliminating trade barriers to U.S. manufactured and farm goods, protecting trademarks and other intellectual property and establishing legal frameworks for U.S. investment. Last year the region purchased about $15 billion worth of U.S. goods.
Many Democrats argue that inadequate worker rights provisions in the agreement will lead to labor abuses. It is also opposed by lawmakers from sugar beet and sugar cane-growing areas, and others who link free trade to America's soaring trade deficits.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the fact that GOP House leaders haven't yet brought the bill up could be a sign that it lacks the votes.
"I can't really speak with authority on the number of Republican votes that are 'no' on CAFTA, but I hear that it is a significant number," she told reporters. "I know that there are only a small number of Democrats who would be supporting it, so I think they are in trouble on CAFTA."
Reform Party was Perot's party, it later brought us Pat Buchanan.
Perot's VP Admiral Stockdale in 1992 passed away recently. He's the one that started the VP debate: "Who am I? Why am I here?".
We can thank Ross Perot for the Clinton years. He won in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote.
Thanks Rob ~ yep, the old Admiral was POW and a real hero.
43% wasn't much of a landslide majority was it. :):)
The lunatic left are always crowing about WJC's popularity ~ he was/is only popular with them and their sycophants in the media.
CAFTA is a EU for this hemisphere. It is also foreign aid. C'mon, you think people in El Salvador making 10 cents per hour are going to be able to afford to buy American products made by workers making $15 per hour? Get real.
Oh please. The tariffs paid on imported goods from Central America are a drop in the bucket compared to what you pay the federal, state, and local government in income, property, excise, and other use taxes. Sell that line to someone else. The intent of the founders was that the government be funded by import tariffs and tariffs on interstate commerce. If you globalists expended half as much energy on getting the government out of my paycheck as you do on exporting our jobs to Costa Rica, we'd be in very pretty shape.
I don't care what you think. This is my money we're talking about and I'll thank you to not get insulting just because I don't want to donate to your charity. The amount of money may be a 'drop in the bucket' to you but it's not a 'drop in the bucket' to me.
Go harass some other motorist, I don't need you to wash my windshield.
So, tell me please, what the average person (in second world nations) is going to be able to buy that is American made? Nations with $300/month incomes are not necessarly poor. The local people can well afford locally produced goods valued at the employment costs of that nation. Now, what American made products, valued at the cost of production in America, will they be able to buy? Will they buy our $19 DVDs? Or maybe our $30 shirts? Not that that much of any consumer goods are still made in America.
Why? Are we so addicted to China. If we could shift our trade focus to our own backyard. Who is to say they cannot assemble computers or make all the stuff we buy from China? What's so special about China?
Obviously not. Nor do you care what anyone else thinks. You globalist liberals are all that way.
...I'll thank you to not get insulting...Go harass some other motorist, I don't need you to wash my windshield.
Do you read what you write before you post it? Just curious.
There are 1.2 bln and $300 bln reasons to trade with Central America.
That tears it. No you can't have any more of my money and quit asking!
There really should be some rules around here about people bumming for handouts and then getting offensive when I suggest they work for it.
The 45 million people in the CAFTA-DR countries purchased more from us last year ($15 billion) than the 1.5 billion people in India, Indonesia and Russia combined.
Fabric mill products is the leading manufactured export category to the CAFTA-DR group, with 2004 exports to the region of $2.6 billion (16 percent of the U.S. total).
Other top manufactured exports to the CAFTA-DR region in 2004 were computer and electronic products ($2.2 billion), apparel manufactures ($1.6 billion), chemical manufactures ($1.2 billion), and petroleum and coal products ($961 million).
Central America purchased $642 million in American-made agricultural equipment which represents a gain of 28% over 2003.
From 2000 to 2004 export shipments to the CAFTA-DR group expanded by 16.4 percent, more than three times the 4.8 percent growth of overall U.S. exports.
These volumes are not small. The $2.2 billion increase in exports to these countries from 200-2004 has created a lot of jobs here at home.
What's interesting is that the Globalist liberals are actually rabidly opposed to CAFTA. They're the same ones who want to take our wealth and give it to the U.N. for worldwide redistribution.
These are the real one-worlders:
CISPES (Castro Communists)
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists - Social Justice Committee
UCLA La Raza Graduate Student Association
Denver Justice and Peace Committee
Idaho Green Party
International Project Solidarity
Coalition for Alternatives to War
Coalition Against Global Exploitation
SEPA
Freedom Socialist Party
Progressive Democrats of America
Public Citizen
Social Welfare Action Alliance
More leftist one-worlder global socialists against CAFTA here.
This issue has certainly made for some strange bedfellows. Once again, they are pushing redistributionist policies masquerading as patriotism.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1442516/posts
I'm not an economic nitwit but I'm furious about the paragraph in CAFTA that says that all CAFTA countries will abide by international health guidelines. This, in short, is a total sellout to BigPharma, the feelthy lot pushing through the UN's Codex Alimentarius which wants nothing more than to reduce the health of the Western World to the level of those who live in mud huts in African swamps.
Bush's marriage to BigPharma disgusts me and I'll vote for Hitlery or anyone else who'll oppose CODEX. Ron Paul is on my side and just a few other legislators but most of them are signing our right to be healthy over to the UN and the World Government crew behind them. BigPharma is one of the largest supporters, both financially and PR-wise of Codex.
From your post 115 it's a bit foggy just who these "neo-cons" are and who they're giving money to; but the important thing to me is the question of just who's money it is that we're talking about. I tell you what: you can donate your money to support your family and friends as you see fit, we let let those 'neo-cons' give their money to 'transnational corporations', and my money can be my own business.
Tax cuts, including import tax cuts, will help everyone.
unbelievable! eagle forumers, buchanites, trotskyites, mexican racists, socialists, berkeley loosers, etc, all in bed with one another.
another luddite thread.
80% of imports from the CAFTA-DR region already enter the U.S. duty-free. Our goods do not get the same treatment.
I tend to vote my own pocketbook. Funny thing is, it looks like most protectionists wish to vote my own pocketbook as well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.