Thread: C. American Exporters Upbeat Over Trade

http://www.heraldsun.com/nationworld/in ... 31138.html

C. American Exporters Upbeat Over Trade
By MARIANELA JIMENEZ : Associated Press Writer
Jul 28, 2005 : 3:30 pm ET

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- For Gerardo Hidalgo, U.S. congressional approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement is welcome news. If Costa Rica ratifies, it means he can export more rocking chairs to Texas and California -- without tariffs or other trade barriers.

But rice farmer Oscar Campos predicts his fields will soon be empty. He fears he won't be able to compete with big U.S. growers.

Hours after Congress sent the pact to President Bush on Thursday for his signature, opponents and supporters in Central America were mobilizing for their final battle over ratification of the free trade deal.

Farmers, unions and environmental groups argue the treaty will drive small producers off their land, undermine labor efforts and encourage pollution. Supporters say it will boost exports and help businesses add jobs.

Signed a year ago, CAFTA would eventually eliminate tariffs and other barriers on trade between the United States and the Central American nations of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republican in the Caribbean.

The last hurdle will likely be Costa Rica, one of three countries whose legislatures have not yet approved the pact.

Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco said lawmakers in his nation were in no hurry to vote on CAFTA. Pacheco has said he wants to approve fiscal reform packages first.

"We Costa Ricans have a reputation for taking things slowly, and this has worked for us down through history," he said, speaking in Panama City, where he was attending a summit of Caribbean leaders.

Nicaraguan lawmakers said they expected to hold a successful vote on CAFTA soon. In the Dominican Republic, the agreement has been held up by concerns it would hurt the sugar industry.

At stake is the region's rapidly changing economy -- once based on bananas and coffee, but increasingly dependent on textile factories that make everything from pajamas for Wal-Mart to women's gloves for upscale U.S. department stores.

Likely left behind will be farmers like Campos, who faces phased-out government supports and greater U.S. competition.

CAFTA "doesn't even touch the topic of U.S. subsidies, while we are left with no help," he said.

But Campos expressed optimism that Costa Rica will be the country to hold up the agreement, rejecting CAFTA because "here, people think."

Hidalgo, on the other hand, hopes for approval. He says CAFTA would help him expand his business by guaranteeing freer access to the U.S. market.

His company employs 32 people and produces 1,000 rocking chairs a month -- nearly all of which are sent to the United States.

"With CAFTA, we will at least be able to maintain the conditions we have now," he said.

Luis Carlos Chaves, whose Avantica software company exports 90 percent of its products to the United States, agreed.

"In the short term, it won't change much," he said. "But in the long term, we can expand."

Central American leaders say the pact will bring more foreign investment and much-needed jobs.

"The House of Representatives has voted in favor of liberty, democracy and free trade in Central America," Salvadoran President Tony Saca, one of the most outspoken proponents of the accord, said after the deal's narrow passage Thursday in Washington.

Central America is hoping to match the success of Mexico, which signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, with the United States and Canada 11 years ago.

NAFTA boosted investment in Mexico's assembly-for-export plants along the U.S. border, raising wages and drawing thousands of workers to crowded frontier cities where the plants are concentrated.

The agreement has diversified Mexico's economy and market -- filling stores with everything from American cereals to televisions while making it easier for large Mexican producers to send fruit and vegetables north.

There have been pains, too. The changing economy has driven many of Mexico's small farmers off their land and into the cities, where many have had trouble finding work.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- For Gerardo Hidalgo, U.S. congressional approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement is welcome news. If Costa Rica ratifies, it means he can export more rocking chairs to Texas and California -- without tariffs or other trade barriers.

Oooh really....how many times did we hear last night that they can ship anything they want to the US now duty free but the poor American companies have to pay a tariff? No, they have also been restricted and have had to pay some tariffs. We were lied to last night.

But rice farmer Oscar Campos predicts his fields will soon be empty. He fears he won't be able to compete with big U.S. growers.

They will be gone in less than five years just like in Mexico.

But Campos expressed optimism that Costa Rica will be the country to hold up the agreement, rejecting CAFTA because "here, people think."

Lets pray the Costa Ricans and some of the others hold pu the agreement and reject it, because "there, people think".

The U.S. has a perfectly sound trade agreement with Central America called the Caribbean Basin Initiative, which already makes most of our trade with Central America duty free.

from
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0727-33.htm


CAFTA WILL ONLY HURT THE AVERAGE CITIZEN OF ANY NATION THAT RATIFIES IT.

But it looks like this is another issue of laws not being enforced...