In Bush Win, House Narrowly Approves CAFTA

Associated Press ^ | July 27, 2005 | JIM ABRAMS

[RWR8189]

WASHINGTON - The House narrowly approved the Central American Free Trade Agreement early Thursday, a personal triumph for President Bush, who campaigned aggressively for the accord he said would foster prosperity and democracy in the hemisphere.

The 217-215 vote just after midnight adds six Latin American countries to the growing lists of nations with free trade agreements with the United States and averts what could have been a major political embarrassment for the Bush administration.

It was an uphill effort to win a majority, with Bush traveling to Capitol Hill earlier in the day to appeal to wavering Republicans to support a deal he said was critical to U.S. national security.

Lobbying continued right up to the vote, with Vice President Dick Cheney, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman (news, bio, voting record) and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez tracking undecided lawmakers.

The United States signed the accord, known as CAFTA, a year ago with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, and the Senate approved it last month. It now goes to the president for his signature.

To capture a majority, supporters had to overcome what some have called free trade fatigue, a growing sentiment that free trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada have contributed to a loss of well-paying American jobs and the soaring trade deficit.

Democrats, who were overwhelmingly against CAFTA, also argued that its labor rights provisions were weak and would result in exploitation of workers in Central America.

But supporters pointed out that CAFTA would over time eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers that impede U.S. sales to the region, correcting the current situation in which 80 percent of Central American goods enter the United States duty-free but Americans must pay heavy tariffs.

The agreement would also strengthen intellectual property protections and make it easier for Americans to invest in the region.

"This is a test of American leadership in a changing world," said Rep. Kevin Brady (news, bio, voting record), R-Texas, a leading proponent of the agreement. "We cannot claim to be fighting for American jobs and yet turn our backs on 44 million new customers in Central America.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

The faux "conservatives" hereabouts need a place -- someplace; any warm, nurturing place, really -- where their rigid, fetishistic beliefs that (for example) Ronald Wilson Reagan's free trade philosophy was a "neocon" one don't instantly mark them as being hopelessly muddled and out of place in the midst of any serious, adult discussion of baseline conservative practices and principles.

I suggest this calm, welcoming harbor, where the natives fantasize dreamily about "the Rex 84 internment camps" that Dubya and KKKarl Rove has secretly been establishing, "ready to take on 20 million anti-CAFTA dissidents" at a moment's notice.

They'd be infinitely happier there, I think; energetically banging rocks together, grooming one another's hides, and sharing beery, wistful campfire prophecies of a Kucinich administration yet to come.

[carenot]

And you dare call yourself a Conservative?

I thought I was.
I must not be. :(

[taxed2death]

In this case, it is you who are totally incorrect.

[Toddsterpatriot]

No I don't have a link but my husband worked in the machine tool business for many years before he died. His last position was representing Japan Machinery. He mentioned in many conversations that machine tool builders had moved to Korea, Japan, Poland and now of course China.

There is a difference between "machine tool builders had moved to Korea, Japan, Poland and now of course China" and "Now, there is NO machine tool industry in this country. Everything is overseas".

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Machine-tool production (cutting and forming types) in millions of U.S. dollars

		- 2004 (est.) Production -			- 2003 (rev.) -	- Change -
			$-Millions			$-Millions	in local	in U.S.
		Country	Total	% Cut	% Form	Total	currency	dollars
1.	Japan	10,521.0	88%	11.9%	7,885.9	24%	33%
2.	Germany	9,216.2	73%	27.5%	7,737.7	8%	19%
3.	Italy	4,639.2	55%	45.0%	4,154.1	2%	12%
4.	China, Peoples Rep.	4,000.0	77%	23.3%	2,980.0	$	34%
5.	Taiwan	2,892.2	75%	25.3%	2,110.8	33%	37%
6.	United States	2,814.2	80%	20.4%	2,274.0	24%	24%
7.	Switzerland	2,360.0	85%	15.0%	1,879.4	14%	26%
8.	Korea, Rep. of	2,298.9	66%	33.5%	2,087.7	$	10%
9.	Spain	1,023.5	65%	35.4%	926.1	0%	11%
10.	United Kingdom	877.2	81%	18.8%	664.2	18%	32%
11.	France	766.4	70%	30.0%	733.0	-5%	5%
12.	Canada	u742.2	60%	40.0%	689.6	0%	8%
13.	Brazil	463.8	81%	19.0%	371.4	$	25%
14.	Turkey	322.9	31%	69.4%	248.2	18%	30%
15.	Czech Republic	278.1	94%	6.2%	220.4	15%	26%
16.	Austria	254.6	60%	40.0%	220.2	5%	16%
17.	Sweden	254.6	40%	60.0%	219.1	6%	16%
18.	Netherlands	254.6	20%	80.0%	228.1	1%	12%
19.	India	220.6	87%	13.0%	145.3	47%	52%
20.	Finland	198.7	12%	88.0%	169.4	7%	17%
21.	Belgium	193.8	10%	90.0%	186.4	-5%	4%
22.	Russia	161.4	77%	23.2%	156.4	3%	3%
23.	Australia	136.0	71%	29.4%	128.2	$	6%
24.	Thailand	u121.9	80%	20.0%	118.1	0%	3%
25.	Denmark	84.5	40%	60.0%	72.3	6%	17%
26.	Croatia	67.0	100%	0.0%	63.0	$	6%
27.	Romania	59.3	56%	43.5%	53.1	$	12%
28.	Portugal	42.2	10%	90.0%	37.3	3%	13%
29.	Argentina	15.2	69%	30.9%	14.5	$	5%
30.	Hungary	u9.9	65%	35.5%	c9.0	0%	11%
31.	South Africa	u5.3	29%	70.6%	4.5	0%	17%
		Total	$45,295.6			$36,787.4		23%
		Source: Gardner Publications, Inc.
	u = unrevised from previous year but converted at current rates
	c = circa; rough estimate from fragmentary reports
	$ = figures are reported in U.S. dollars

 

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World Machine Tool Output

[1rudeboy]

I have an interesting conundrum for you:

Reagan (mostly a free-trader) imposes tariffs on foreign motorcycles. He's a hero.
Bush (mostly a free-trader) imposes tariffs on foreign steel. He's a goat.

[ThermoNuclearWarrior]

So you are saying that Bush is leaning toward the Cornyn-Kyl bill? Then give me the link to one of those articles that says this. If it's been posted all over FR then it won't be hard to find one. I have a feeling you won't be able to find anything that will back up your statement.

Lately Bush has been silent while a few Republicans in Congress are pressuring him to do something that's really effective when it comes to illegal immigration. That would mean coming up with something different than every proposal he's had so far on this issue.

[A. Pole]

5. Taiwan 2,892.2
6. United States 2,814.2
7. Switzerland 2,360.0

I see, so US is behind Taiwan and before Switzerland. What is your point?

[jeremiah]

I remember when the worst thing one said to a Libertarian was that they believed in open borders. Now it is mainstream Republican/socialist thought.

[Toddsterpatriot]

I see, so US is behind Taiwan and before Switzerland. What is your point?

My point is that $2.8 billion in machine tool production is more than the $0 in production that AnimalLover claimed.

[investigateworld]

Toddster, I really appreciate your graphs and charts showing a rosy economic picture here. But if things are so solid, why did the Pubbies push through a overhaul of the bankruptcy laws, that benefited only big lenders vs. Americans. What do they see on the horizon that is so bad they whored themselves to this extent?

[Wallace T.]

The Rand Institute conducted a study about the decline of the American machine tool industry in the 1980s, a summary of which is available at http://www.rand.org/publications/RB/RB1500/. Prior to 1982, the U.S. was first or a close second to Germany in the production of machine tools on a worldwide basis. By 1992, the end of the scope of this study, America had fallen to fourth place while Japan accelerated to the number one spot. The Rand paper blamed the decline in American machine tool production to better technology on the part of the Japanese, superior Japanese speed in production, and the high value of the dollar in relation to other currencies.

A relatively weak machine tools industry cannot be beneficial to the United States in the long run. We cannot be assured that our external threat will continue to be the so-called Fourth Generation of borderless war with Islamic extremist terrorists. China is acting more and more like a first class power. They have a rapidly expanding industrial sector, the nation can essentially feed itself, and are building their military forces. Zimbabwe is basically becoming a Chinese protectorate, and the Chinese are making deals with Venezuela, Brazil, and even Canada for oil and other goods. (Keep in mind that Marxists are in charge of the first two countries.)

From a national defense standpoint, CAFTA may not be a bad deal because it would pull Central America closer to the American orbit. With China having major shipping facilities at the Panama Canal and Daniel Ortega and his Communist Sandinistas the number two political party in Nicaragua, there is serious peril to U.S. interests in this region.

Whatever the merits of the agreement, the fact remains that an America with a weakened ability to produce airplanes, tanks, missiles, warships, and even military firearms would be at a disadvantage in a major war. An important lesson of our Civil War and the two World Wars is that military power and industrial prowess are closely related. Remember that the South won most of the battles, particularly in the first two years, but lost the war. We may still be able to produce warplanes and submarines that can run circles around anything China may have, but without a strong industrial base with the ability to produce large quantities quickly, our high tech products will be as futile as the Nazi "wonder weapons" were in 1944 and 1945.

[hedgetrimmer]

How's that CAFTA headache working out for you? Did you try the aspirin? Or did you go straight for the Jack?

Like I said, whatever you do in your own life is your business. Projecting it on to other people, is well, just so Alinksi of you!

[Politics4Fun]

I agree....freer markets DEF makes for freer people. Glad the House saw this one through...I'm sure it took some craft manuvering on the part of Whip Blunt to get the votes in for this, but it is a solid move. Well done!

[hedgetrimmer]

From a national defense standpoint, CAFTA may not be a bad deal because it would pull Central America closer to the American orbit.

Or it could contribute to our insecurity because many of the nations are so unstable.

Its one thing to ally with a stable country with an economy similar to our own, its quite another to do it with a third world country prone to revolution and dictatorship.

[superiorslots]

Quote: Now you see Jan 1994 112,473,000 jobs. Jun 2005 133,537,000 jobs. Looks like 21,064,000 jobs. But feel free to check my math




We have a larger population in the last 12 years and more women have entered the workforce because the husbangs lost his manufacturing job and had to take a lower wage paying service job.

[superiorslots]

In regards to machine tool EXPORTS the US is BEHIND tiny Switzerland


http://www.gardnerweb.com/consump/export.html

[superiorslots]

Quote:
In regards to machine tool EXPORTS the US is BEHIND tiny Switzerland

...and I want to add we are behind switzerlands exports by almost half.

[Wallace T.]

The Caribbean area is the soft underbelly of the United States, just as the Mediterranean was to the Axis in World War II. Most of the Anglo-American war efforts prior to D-Day took place in North Africa and Italy. A present or future enemy would look likewise at the Caribbean. This area has been in the American sphere of influence since the late 19th Century. Even before that, some enthusiastic expansionists dreamed about annexing Cuba and other areas into the United States. The very fact that several of the Central American nations are unstable underscores the need for increased American involvement. China is making large scale deals in the Western Hemisphere. Increased Sino-Brazilian and Sino-Venezuelan ties are not favorable to long-term American interests.

If Ortega came back to power in Nicaragua, or the leftist PRD won the Mexican elections, toppling hostile regimes in those countries should be a top U.S. priority. If NAFTA and CAFTA can forestall takeover of these countries by anti-American forces without bloodshed, this may be an acceptable tradeoff for the loss of automobile or textile jobs to the nations to our south. Better to lose it to them than to an Asian nation.

[superiorslots]

Here is another interesting chart that shows Machine Tool Trade imbalance. We are down to #30 which is bad. Look at the countries with a pos # and you wills ee how the machine tool trade will be going in this country.

US 2003 -1.633.9
US 2004 -2.117.9

http://www.gardnerweb.com/consump/trade.html

[Wurlitzer]

"The freer the markets the freer the people!"

Agreed but where do you see free markets in any of these agreements?

Only when our trading partners have to comply with every government mandated regulation from EPA, ADA, to OSHA, and their associated costs can we have free trade. Anything short of that is NOT free trade nor a free market.

If you pile on top of government regulation, our wonderful union thugs it is a wonder we can compete in anything short of weapons.