link


Dateline Alabama | APN
S.C.'s senators split on trade pact with Central America


The Associated Press

May 17, 2005


South Carolina's two Republican U.S. senators are split on whether the United States should enter a trade pact with Central America supported by President Bush.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., plans to vote against the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement because he thinks China would use the deal to sneak its own goods into the United States duty-free. Graham said the Chinese did the same thing with NAFTA.

But Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., will support the pact because he has been assured the concerns of Upstate textile companies will be addressed.

The pact would remove duties and other barriers now affecting trade between the United States and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

President Bush has signed the pact, but its prospects are uncertain in Congress.

On Monday, DeMint invited Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez to come to Greenville and talk about CAFTA.

The pact with Central American nations would lock in existing trade and help South Carolina's beleaguered textile industry in its fight against China, Gutierrez told a group of businessmen.

South Carolina mills already sell fabric to Central America, where it is made into garments and sent back to the United States for sale. Those sales would only increase if CAFTA is passed, Gutierrez said.

The mills in the state sent more than $180 million worth of fabric to the CAFTA countries last year, accounting for more than half of the state's exports to the region and a 286 percent increase since 2000, Gutierrez said.

The secretary also addressed Graham's concerns, saying Bush's administration announced last week it would seek to re-impose quotas on three classes of Chinese textile imports.

"When our workers and companies are threatened by disruptive forces, we will enforce our trading agreements to level the field," Gutierrez said.

Graham wants the president to stay tough with China.

"What I want to see the administration do, quite frankly, is hit China hard when they cheat," Graham said. "That's not asking too much. That's not being protectionist."

---

Information from: The Greenville News