Free Republic

Commerce: In his State of the Union address, President Obama announced talks with Europe for the most ambitious trade partnership ever attempted. So how come it doesn't include the words "free trade"? bfgs'Tonight, I am announcing that we will launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union — because trade that is free and fair across the Atlantic supports millions of good-paying American jobs," President Obama said in his State of the Union address. It's hard to think of any greater tonic for two stricken economies than free trade with one other. The U.S....

Canadian, U.S., and Mexican elites, including CEOS and politicians, have a plan to create common North American policies and further integrate our economies. This plan goes by various names and euphemisms, such as "deep integration", "NAFTA-plus", "harmonization", the "Big Idea", the "Grand Bargain", and the "North American Security and Prosperity Initiative". Regardless of which name your prefer, the end goal of all of these plans is to create a new political and economic entity named the North American Union (NAU) that would supercede the existing countries. Theoretically, it would be similar to and competetive with the European Union (EU). The...

A Texas congressman is asking his colleagues as well as American citizens nationwide to join him in opposing a plan that describes itself as seeking more security and more prosperity for the United States, when in fact it may do neither. Rep. Ron Paul has written his weekly "Texas Straight Talk" column about the "Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America (SSP)," which, he says, "will likely make us far less secure and certainly less prosperous." A key to that plan, he noted, is a massive new NAFTA superhighway about which WorldNetDaily has run a series of reports. "A massive...

UPDATE, July 19, 2006. The House is expected to vote on the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement (FTA) very soon.   The Senate has already approved this trade pact by 60-34 in June. This could be another CAFTA-type cliff hanger in the House, so please contact your representative immediately via phone, fax, or email, in strong opposition to the U.S.-Oman FTA. Phone is preferable due to the shortness of time and the bigger impact. Help Preserve Jobs and National Security & Independence: Defeat the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement What's it all mean?We have a golden opportunity to derail the NAFTA/CAFTA series of...

Because of its location, Texas is integral to the creation of the FTAA and the eventual merger of North and South America under a single regional government like the EU. A little more than two years ago, political allies of Texas Governor Rick Perry quietly passed legislation creating the "Trans-Texas Corridor" (TTC). With the connivance of a largely silent press, the most expensive project in the state's history became law with scant public notice. It's bad enough that the TTC will cost at least $185 billion, much of it derived from new toll taxes imposed on existing free roads. It's...

Costa Rican trade unions called on Monday for a one-day general strike next month to oppose ratification of a regional free-trade pact with the United States, which they fear could hurt standards of living. More than 200 unions and civic groups are expected to take part in the stoppage on Nov. 17, which seeks to pressure the Costa Rican Congress to reject the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, union leaders said. Costa Rica is the only Central American nation yet to ratify the agreement. It has been approved by the United States, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and...

Robert B. Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State United States Embassy Brasília, Brazil October 6, 2005 DEPUTY SECRETARY ZOELLICK:Okay, well thanks for taking the time to come by. Let me just make a few opening comments about the purpose of my visit and then we will just open it up to questions. This primarily is an opportunity for me to consult with a close and important partner of the United States. I've been to Brazil a number of times before, I obviously see Brazilian officials regularly Celso Amorim was in Washington just about a week ago. But it gives me an...

CAFTA: Exporting American Jobs & Industryby William Norman Grigg The New American, April 18, 2005CAFTA, a forerunner of an "EU of the Americas," trades away American jobs in the name of rewarding Latin American "democracies." Allen Johnson, chief agricultural negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, was enjoying his vacation in late February when he received a panicky call from the White House. The mid-year meeting of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) was on the verge of delivering a stinging rebuke to the Bush administration by passing a resolution opposing the proposed Central...

TRADE-AMERICAS: The 'Green' Promises of CAFTA MEXICO CITY, Feb 17 (IPS) - The ''green'' provisos of the free trade treaty between the United States, five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic say the parties will act in ''good faith'' and will create an Environmental Affairs Council, an arbitration group and perhaps a secretariat. Now these promises are being used as artillery by the treaty's defenders and detractors alike. Saying the trade treaty is pro- or anti-environment is a battlehorse for those debating the eventual ratification this year by the parliaments of the Latin American countries involved (Costa Rica, El...

USA : Trade hopes soar as CAFTA goes through the final lap 19th February 2005 CAFTA is on its road to fructification with the Bush administration trying to drum support for the pact from business and political leaders in the Carolinas. If it musters enough support, the deal, seen as a referendum on Bush's trade agenda, could go to Congress as early as this month for final approval. The CAFTA agreement calls for end of import taxes or duties on products like pharmaceuticals, clothing and cars. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Thursday the agreement with five Central American countries...

WASHINGTON · Congress is gearing up for a battle royal this winter over a pact to slash trade barriers with Dominican Republic and five Central American countries. Backers of the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA, sent lawmakers letters Wednesday urging speedy passage to help expand U.S. sales overseas. The Bush administration seeks congressional hearings as soon as mid-February and approval by summer. The opposition is lobbying hard too, from organized labor to the American sugar industry. The AFL-CIO and other labor groups have held back firepower against other free-trade pacts, aiming their biggest guns at CAFTA....

Communism is not dead in Latin America. In fact, the dominoes are falling south of the border, but no one seems to be noticing. “It’s a new day. Communism is dead. It’s even dead in Cuba.” So declared Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in May 2002. “I hate to say it,” she continued, “it’s dead.” The senator’s proclamation was a surprise, no doubt, to Fidel Castro, whose regime was (and is) alive and as Red as ever. It also must have come as welcome news to the people of Cuba, still suffering, after nearly half...

Final phase of trade pact may doom U.S. textiles Sunday, November 14, 2004 After decades of decline, the once vibrant textile industry that transformed North Jersey into an industrial powerhouse is facing what leaders say could be its death knell.On Jan. 1, the United States and many other countries will remove the last remaining import "quotas" protecting their textile and garment industries by limiting the flow of competing products across their borders.That will allow an unlimited number of wool, yarn, clothing, sheets and other fabric items - most made by workers earning a fraction of American wages - into the...