http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=22549

Government’s Own Estimates Contradict Its CAFTA Spin
Posted by AmericansFirst on Saturday June 25, 2005 at 3:42 am MST [ Send Story to Friend ]

Link to story: http://www.sugaralliance.org/pdf/ITC%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is directly extracted from a government report and is in the public domain. Todd, I'm posting this in "My Opinion" since this isn't breaking news, feel free to move it if you wish.

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As required by law, the federal government conducted an economic analysis of CAFTA -- a pending trade deal with Central America. These estimates were released with no fanfare in the middle of August 2004 and have been buried ever since. No doubt that’s because the estimates in that report directly contradict the Administration’s rhetoric and spin about CAFTA benefits to America’s economy.

Here are some of the highlights from the U.S. International Trade Commission’s CAFTA report, which can be found at

http://prototype.usitc.gov/WAIS/pub3717.PDF:

· America’s trade deficit with Central America will actually increase to $2.4 billion a year under CAFTA. (page 75, page xii)

· CAFTA would benefit the U.S. economy by less than 0.01 percent. (page xvii)

· A “relatively small impact on the U.S. economy is expected because of the relatively small market size and low income levels in [Central America/Dominican Republic].� This phrase, or slight variations of it, appears 13 times in the report’s Executive Summary. (pages xi to xxxi)

· Job loss in the U.S. sugar industry is projected to be 38 times greater than in the next closest sector-- textiles -- and thousands of sugar producers will be left unemployed in CAFTA’s wake. (page 79)

· CAFTA’s effect on farm exports would be much lower than the promises currently being made to America’s farmers and ranchers. Agricultural exports may increase by $328 million under CAFTA, far lower than the lofty $1.5 billion being promised by the Administration and other CAFTA supporters. (page 75)

· Wheat farmers are told of potential gains under CAFTA, yet the government’s own economic study contradicts this wild assertion: “U.S. wheat exports to the CA/DR region face no tariffs…and thus are not likely to be affected by the [CAFTA].� (page 55)

· Rice farmers are told they will be winners under CAFTA, but CAFTA actually grants them less immediate market access than they currently enjoy. (pages 54-55)

· The ITC finds that CAFTA will have “a negligible impact on total U.S. [corn] production and employment.� (page xxi)

· Farmers of U.S. grains are told of new Central American markets, but the United States already supplies 94 percent of all grain imports to the region. (page 4