Thread: House Floor Vote on Peru FTA Planned for the Week of Nov. 5

This flyer is from a labor-oriented organization, but its main points are valid for all of domestic manufacturing in the U.S. The Peru Free Trade Agreement is scheduled to be voted on this week. Domestic manufacturers should call their Member of Congress, ask for the staffer that handles trade legislation, and let them know they should vote against the Peru Free Trade Agreement this week. While Peru is not a heavy industrial exporter, Korea is a huge exporter to the U.S. And prospects for the passage of free trade agreements with Korea and Colombia, which are waiting in the wings to see how the House Floor vote for the Peru Free Trade agreement goes, will be improved with the passage of the Peru free trade agreement. Also you can be sure that Peru will be another loophole for Chinese transshipments to get duty-free, quota-free for treatment for their exports to the U.S.



Every one of our free trade agreements has been a net negative development for domestic manufacturing. Passage of these free trade agreements has been an essential precondition for the promotion of off-shoring of U.S. manufacturing to that country and the resulting decline of the U.S. manufacturing base. No more free trade agreements should be passed until there has been a thorough assessment of the effects of existing free trade agreements and a new model for trade agreements is developed that ensures future agreements do no further harm to our domestic manufacturing base.



Public opinion polls show heavy public disapproval of free trade agreements. But powerful lobbies of investors, importers, off-shorers, retailers and food exporters have up until now been able to push these free trade agreements through. But the vote has been getting tougher and passage of free trade agreements are increasingly controversial. Please do what you can with your local Member of Congress to let them or their trade legislation staffer know how unpopular these free trade agreements are in their Districts. And ask them to vote NO to the Peru free trade agreement this week. You can usually get the telephone number of your Congressman by going to the website – http://www.(family name of your Congressman).house.gov


Tell Congress to Vote 'NO' to the
Peru Free Trade Agreement



Few days remain to take action against the Peru Free Trade Agreement. The House Ways and Means Committee passed the FTA implementing legislation on October 31, and a House floor vote is planned for the week of November 5. A Senate vote will follow shortly thereafter. Contact your Representative and Senators immediately to urge them to oppose the Peru Free Trade Agreement.

An agreement between House Democrats and the Bush administration resulted in some improvement to the labor, environmental, and access to medicines provisions in the Peru FTA. That said, major problems of the NAFTA/CAFTA model were replicated in the Peru FTA, and remain unaddressed:

Stop the Peru Free Trade Agreement!



(And please join CTC
to help fight for a just
global economy)



* The Peru FTA contains a NAFTA/CAFTA-style foreign investor chapter that promotes off-shoring and subjects our domestic environmental, zoning, health and other public interest policies to challenge directly by foreign investors in foreign tribunals. It allows challenges by foreign investors in foreign tribunals of to challenge timber, mining, construction and other concession contracts with the U.S. federal government, and affords foreign investors greater rights than those enjoyed by U.S. investors.

* The Peru FTA's procurement rules subject many common federal and state procurement policies to challenge in trade tribunals, continue the NAFTA/CAFTA ban on anti-off-shoring and Buy America policies, and expose U.S. renewable energy, recycled content and other requirements to challenge.

* The Peru FTA's agriculture trade rules undermine U.S. producers' ability to earn a fair price for their crops at home and in the global market place. They favor multinational grain trading and food processing companies while farmers on both ends will be hurt. The Peru FTA is projected to increase hunger, illicit drug cultivation, and undocumented migration, while continuing the race to the bottom for commodity prices. This pits farmer against farmer and country against country to see who can produce food the cheapest, regardless of labor, environmental or food safety standards.

* While the amended text of the Peru FTA removes the most egregious, CAFTA-based, provisions limiting the access to affordable medicines, it still includes NAFTA-style provisions that undermine the right to affordable medicines for poorer countries.

* The Peru FTA, like NAFTA and CAFTA, still contains language requiring the United States to accept imported food that does not meet our safety standards.



The United States should not adopt any new trade agreements until there has been a thorough assessment of the effects of existing FTAs. Based on that, a new model for trade agreements should be developed that ensures future agreements do no further harm to working families and the environment. The Peru Free Trade Agreement does not meet these criteria. Please tell your Representative and Senators to oppose the Peru Free Trade Agreement.



(And consider becoming a member of Citizens Trade Campaign)