• Nothing in CAFTA prevents the United States or any state and local government from enacting, modifying, or fully enforcing domestic laws protecting consumers, health, safety, or the environment.CAFTA does not automatically preempt or invalidate laws in the United States.
• The agreement ensures that federal, state and local agencies continue to have an absolute right to set environmental, health, and safety standards at the levels they consider appropriate.
• The agreement simply provides that the legitimate standards that governments impose must be non-discriminatory and transparent, and not be used as disguised barriers to trade.
• CAFTA does not in any way preempt or invalidate federal, state, or local laws that may be inconsistent with the agreement. This is because, while the United States has committed itself to adhere to the rules set out in CAFTA, those rules do not automatically override any domestic laws.CAFTA dispute panels cannot overturn or change U.S federal, state or local laws.
• CAFTA dispute settlement panels have no authority to change U.S. law or to require the United States or any state or local government to change its laws or decisions.
• Only the federal or state governments can change a federal or state law.
• If, ultimately, the United States cannot reach an agreed settlement with the country that brings a dispute settlement claim under CAFTA, that country may withdraw trade benefits of equivalent effect. However, under trade agreement rules, the United States retains complete sovereignty in its decision of how to respond to any panel decision against it.
Source: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (.pdf)
"Source: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative"
Of course he would want everyone to think that, I believe he was appointed by Bush.
The CAFTA reobligates the US to the WTO. The WTO allows countries to use "offers" and "requests" to get around our immigration laws and increase or eliminate caps on certain visas
Your argument is that CAFTA doesn't explicitly say that it changes US rights to regulate, but being law student with a Pell grant from a leftist University, I am quite sure you are aware that language from our government that
talks about "legitimate standards" --who decides what these are?
"must be non-discriminatory and transparent", so we cannot discriminate against DR sugar plantations that do not meet our health standards, because we would be discriminating against them for having lower health standards,
"disguised barriers to trade" oh boy is this a wide-open way for foreign countries to impose their will on the American people. Any and every attempt at maintain our standards can be declared a "barrier to trade"
These assertions by the USTR with a vested interested passing these "free trade" agreements cannot be substantiated, but there is mounting evidence that claims of "barriers to trade" and discrimination, have resulted in the will of the American people being ignored.
CAFTA also requires compliance with all WTO initiatives in order to participate. And compliance of WTO initiatives is a direct conflict with American Sovergnity under our charter and Constitution of the USA.
Carefully taylored press releases from parties complicit in drafting and initiative said CAFTA treaty cannot be considered law or have ultimate regulatory authority. Those press releases are intended for the consumption of a questioning public as to mislead, mistate, or omit certain segments of said treaty in order to promulgate the ratification.
As an unelected official, the US Trade Representitive is only doing the bidding of his employers by promoting their agenda. His words are not law.