Thread: Trade deal could affect N.C. jobs, critics say

Greensboro News & Record


Trade deal could affect N.C. jobs, critics say

5-16-05

By Donald W. Patterson Staff Writer
News & Record



For Jim Copland , there's nothing free about free trade.


At least, not the way it plays out in the Bush administration's Central American Free Trade Agreement.


The 900-plus-page pact could have a significant impact on North Carolina's economy and businesses like Copland's.


But will that impact be for good or ill?


That question has sparked intense lobbying in Congress, protest demonstrations in North Carolina and a split in the U.S. textile industry.


Copland, chairman of Copland Fabrics near Burlington, said that impact will be negative.


He said the agreement will cost American workers - his workers - their jobs.


"It's going to be like taking a torpedo in the belly," Copland said when asked what would happen if Congress approves the agreement later this year. "I don't even want to think that far ahead. I am doing all I can to defeat it."


Yet Copland's Alamance County neighbor, Allen Gant Jr., president and CEO of Glen Raven , another textile company, supports the deal.


Gant said the agreement would help protect what's left of the domestic textile industry by providing regional markets.


He and others said the deal would create incentives for apparel factories to stay in Central America and use U.S.-made materials rather than shifting to Asia, where they would likely use Asian fabric.


"We need (CAFTA) to ensure that the U.S. textile industry can remain competitive against China," said Gant, chairman of the National Council of Textile Organizations.


Gant and others contend that the agreement will create jobs and new regional markets for the state's farmers, paper producers, pharmaceutical supply houses, technology companies and chemical manufacturers, not just its textile makers.


But it's within the textile industry where debate over the agreement rages most fiercely, a fact that has made it difficult for some of the state's congressmen and senators to decide how to vote.


"CAFTA is the hot potato right now," said Missy Branson, senior vice president of the National Council of Textile Organizations, which came out in support of the deal last week.


CAFTA would lower trade barriers between the United States and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.


But the agreement faces a struggle in Congress, which can only vote it up or down. In the House, supporters have only about 180 votes, short of the 218 needed for approval.


In recent weeks, groups on both sides have lobbied congressmen, including Greensboro Republican Rep. Howard Coble.


"They know we are kind of sitting on the fence right now," said Coble's chief of staff, Ed McDonald. "He's a 'no' vote subject to possible change. We want to hear from all sides. There are conflicting reports out there."


Both sides predict victory.


"But it will be a squeaker," said John Bakane, CEO of Cone Denim, formerly Cone Mills, who's been lobbying for it . "The administration can't afford to lose on another big issue. Unless the administration can show that it can get things done, it's going to be a long lame duck session."


Companies such as Cone have a lot riding on CAFTA. Cone, part of Greensboro-based International Textile Group, plans to build an $80 million textile plant in Guatemala if it passes.


In general, textile companies that have plants in the CAFTA region, or plan plants there, tend to support the agreement. Those who don't , tend to oppose it.


"We need to keep jobs in America," said Copland, whose plants employ 375 people. "My sole motivation is to protect these employees."


Opponents include organized labor, the sugar industry and human- , environmental- and Latino-rights groups.


Members of these latter organizations picketed in Charlotte this past week when Honduran President Ricardo Maduro spoke there as part of an effort to drum up support for the agreement.


Supporters include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, retail and importer groups, and numerous farm organizations.


They said the agreement will strengthen democracy and security in the CAFTA region and give U.S. manufacturers greater access to markets there.




Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or






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Lloyd Wood
Director of Media Relations
American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition (AMTAC)
910 16th ST NW
STE 760
Washington, DC 20006

(202) 452-0866
(202) 452-0739 -- fax

lwood@amtacdc.org
www.amtacdc.org

As a retailer and American, I OPPOSE CAFTA.

Presently, American businesses export $15 Billion of goods and services to Central America.

CAFTA on its best day with no relocation of American operations is forecasted to increase these exports by $2 Billion.

What I believe will happen is that we will never see the $2 Billion and we'll lose a good portion of the $15 Billion with companies in the US closing and relocating their plants to Central America to create the jobs to create the income to sell the products made in Central America to Central Americans and then ship these products made in Central America to the United States.

Does this sound familiar?

Tell Gant to Gallop.....I don't know who he is....but he needs to get on his horse and ride South, Waaaaaaaaay South.

We're tired of these fabrications. We're tired of globalists. We're tired of misrepresentations. We're tired of TA and we're full to the gills of BS.

NO MORE TA BS!!

NO to CAFTA!!

NO to NAFTA!!

NO to FTAA!!

NO to TA TA TA TA TA!!

Yet Copland's Alamance County neighbor, Allen Gant Jr., president and CEO of Glen Raven , another textile company, supports the deal.


Gant said the agreement would help protect what's left of the domestic textile industry by providing regional markets.


He and others said the deal would create incentives for apparel factories to stay in Central America and use U.S.-made materials rather than shifting to Asia, where they would likely use Asian fabric.


"We need (CAFTA) to ensure that the U.S. textile industry can remain competitive against China," said Gant, chairman of the National Council of Textile Organizations.

Check these people out and I will lay a wager that they are up LIBBY DOLES backside

I'll check it out. Libbey Dole might be "contributing".....