As a "free trader" you should know. Its called open borders. Do you think a free country should have an open border with a communist country? We don't share a border with Venezuela.
In fact as a condition of GAT and the WTO "member states"(not countries because national sovereignty gets in the way of "free trade") must allow for the "free movement of persons".
I'm fine with allowing flexible movement of workers around the world. What is wrong with that? That is not the same as open borders.
Before you say, great more "Free trade", do you think Vermont and Michigan need anymore Somalians?
The Somalis were brought here through refugee programs or through regular immigration. They were not brought here due to trade deals.
Of course, you still haven't addressed our questions: If free trade is killing out economy, why do we have 4% growth, 5% unemployment, a rising standard of living, the highest rate of home ownership ever, rising industrial output etc. etc?
Can you point to any economic indicator that supports your claim that things are getting worse?
First of all, let us recognize that the general vision and strategic orientations of the Summit of the Americas provide nothing less than the comprehensive framework and organizing principles for the social, economic and political relations b>among the community of nations of the hemisphere in the XXI century. The FTAA is not just one more initiative among the 23 initiatives launched in the Summit of the Americas. It is the pillar, the foundation of the grand project of hemispheric integration contained in the Summit vision. The Declaration of the Americas is a historic understanding on shared value and objectives and on the convenience of working together to achieve them. We have understood that it is through cooperation and integration that we can reach the living standards that we want for our people in the future. This is what has allowed and shall permit the conciliation of the different interests in favor of collective progress, in favor of sustainable development, in favor of democracy and in favor of the wellbeing of all. In addition, the last decades have witnessed important changes in the development strategies in Latin America.
Fourth Western Hemisphere Trade Ministerial and Business Forum
San José, Costa Rica - March 1998
"free trade" IS NOT ABOUT TRADE. It is about a "framework" which is a UN globalese word for government that controls the social, economic and political relations of nations.
If "free trade" was about trade, it would be about tariffs and nothing more.