Thread: CAFTA Backers Focus On Sovereignty, Immigration Issues

National Journal's CongressDailyPM
Issue date: Wednesday, July 6, 2005

TRADE
CAFTA Backers Focus On Sovereignty, Immigration Issues

Fears about increased immigration and the United States' ability to maintain its laws in areas such as defense procurement have become focal points for Republican leaders seeking to round up support for the Central America Free Trade Agreement in advance of a House vote this month. House Republican leaders and the Bush administration are working to quell immigration fears among GOP lawmakers, pointing to a side letter the United States signed with the six CAFTA countries which states, "No provision of the Agreement shall be construed to impose any obligation on a Party regarding its immigration measures." In a "Dear Colleague" circulated last week, House Majority Leader DeLay, International Affairs Chairman Hyde and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, argued CAFTA "may well help stem the tide of illegal immigration from the region." Apparel-producing countries need CAFTA to compete in the U.S. market with Chinese imports, and without the agreement thousands of unemployed apparel workers from the region may head for U.S. borders, they argued.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., remains unconvinced and called CAFTA a "thinly disguised immigration accord" in his own "Dear Colleague" last week. Tancredo claimed that U.S. services commitments in the trade pact could open a new door to the United States for Central American workers. Central American countries or the Dominican Republic could use those provisions to challenge U.S. visa restrictions or professional licensing requirements as barriers to trade under dispute settlement procedures, he wrote. By contrast, Trade Representative Portman, in a June 24 letter to Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, underscored that CAFTA does not contain provisions authorizing additional visas for the temporary entry of workers as were contained in the Chile and Singapore trade accords.

Meanwhile, trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement and permanent normal trade status for China traditionally have faced some resistance from national security hawks and conservatives because of fears about how U.S. laws and sovereignty might be undermined. CAFTA supporters have argued that in this case, those fears would be at least partly counterbalanced because of the memory of the U.S.-backed struggle against communist regimes during the Reagan administration, and the desire to bolster fragile democracies in the region. DeLay, Smith and Hyde also sought to appeal to those sympathies, writing that CAFTA "enhances U.S. national security by continuing our commitment to freedom, democracy and rule of law in the Central American region -- a region in which America has fought hard and long to win against persistent and current efforts to turn back the clock toward communism and socialism." But a House GOP leadership aide said objections about U.S. sovereignty and immigration persist. A CongressDaily survey released Friday found Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. -- a former Reagan aide -- is undecided on CAFTA along with House Judiciary Chairman Sensenbrenner, while Armed Services Chairman Hunter is opposed.
-- by Martin Vaughan

Losing jobs to China and Asia. Everywhere in the World.




J. P.

Inside your post you quote this ( not written by you ) :

In a "Dear Colleague" circulated last week, House Majority Leader DeLay, International Affairs Chairman Hyde and Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, argued CAFTA "may well help stem the tide of illegal immigration from the region." Apparel-producing countries need CAFTA to compete in the U.S. market with Chinese imports, and without the agreement thousands of unemployed apparel workers from the region may head for U.S. borders, they argued.

Later I found a horrible article on how China is causing the ruin of Latin American Industry by dumping t-shirts at 20 cents of a dollar.

The Article in Spanish is here :

http://www.cambio.com.co/html/economia/articulos/3660/

I have written before in my Forum

http://fashyon.com

How my country Colombia is totally flooded with Chinese Manufactures like :

Watches, TV Sets, motorcycles, cars, digital Cameras, and every consumer product that you could imagine. This is astonishing and staggering. The World Trade Organization forces us to receive all this merchandise, but something has to be done.



So Friend J. P. :


We have to study what to do if China, already the only Apparel Textile Super Power is going to conquer the whole world by dumping merchandise and having lower salaries than any Latin American country.

China will conquer not only with Textiles and Apparel. ...

Do not think that American Jobs have been lost to Latin America. In Apparel and Textiles that is not true. Perhaps 90% or more were lost to Asia and specially to China.



Vicente Duque

So Friend J. P. :


We have to study what to do if China, already the only Apparel Textile Super Power is going to conquer the whole world by dumping merchandise and having lower salaries than any Latin American country.

China will conquer not only with Textiles and Apparel. ...

Do not think that American Jobs have been lost to Latin America. In Apparel and Textiles that is not true. Perhaps 90% or more were lost to Asia and specially to China.

Vicente,
China has taken a variety of manufacturing jobs, including textiles, electronics, and many more.

China is pleased with CAFTA because it will allow them to send even more products to the US via Central America. It will hurt both of our countries. Mexico has taken manufacturing jobs for automobiles, appliances and much more. America has lost millions of good paying jobs to outside sources since NAFTA. The politicians and the big businesses are the only ones who get rich off this deal. The rest of us will suffer by having to be their indentured servants. The problems with this trade deal is that we are now importing more than what is exported and we rely too heavily on outside sources for our products.

JP : Thanks for your answer and your experiences


I see in your Author or "Avatar" that you are from North Carolina. Most important Textile and Garment Producer inside the U. S. ... I can understand the unemployment stress for these industries and for N. C.

North Carolina Senators Richard Burr ( Republican ) and Elizabeth Dole ( Republican ) voted YES for CAFTA and were crucial in building the 54 to 45 majority that approved CAFTA in the Senate Floor. ( Late at night on June 30 )

Senator Jim DeMint, Republican from South. Carolina also voted YES for CAFTA approval.


Jeff Sessions is an Alabama Republican Senator and he had doubts about CAFTA as a defender of Alabama's Sock Industry. Sesssions finally gave a YES vote.

The people that explain YES votes say that there are provisions in CAFTA to fix the loads and protect the USA from China disguising as a Latin land.

Is there any other important state in U. S. Textiles and Apparel ???

Perhaps Nebraska ???

How did other Textile and Garment Lands inside the States voted for CAFTA ???

Since my websites deal with the Garment Industry then all this material is "very sexy" for me.

I am totally tuned to what the House is going to do, and how the consciences are going to move before the Big Decision on CAFTA.

The Result will give us countless hours to do reviews and analysis. Whatever the result it will be hair raising, a thriller, suspense.

Thanks for any help

Vicente Duque