Thread: Colombia free trade vote...

While the economy tanks and the government bails out wall street banks Bush just can't get his mind off of the free trade bill with Colombia. Maybe that will save the economy LOL?

Bush is pushing for a vote before May 31st and interestingly enough the Colombian airline has asked the DOT to begin direct service between Washington Dulles airport and Bogota's airport.

There was a interesting question and answer session with Carlos Gutierrez, the secretary of commerce, over the benefits of free trade with Colombia. He says that Colombians can sell flowers to the US duty free but Americans have to pay a %15 tax on the fertilizer for those same flowers. He says this tax will be eliminated which is good for the fertilizer company.

What Gutierrez does NOT say is that the same federal government took the tax off the Colombian flowers years ago in the name of stopping the growth of coco leaves for cocaine and in the process practically destroyed California's rose industry. The Colombian company that grows these flowers and sells them to Wal-mart and pro flowers.com is worried that if the free trade agreement does not pass that the tax will be re-instated. The State Department also gave your tax dollars to these companies to get the business going in the first place. The flowers are grown next to Bogota's airport miles from areas where ilicit coco leaves are produced and it has done nothing to stop Colombians from producing drugs miles from Bogota which they do.

Interestingly enough, US unions are more concerned over the fate of trade union leaders in Colombia and Colombian workrs then they are the fate of US companies which could potentially shut down plants and send it there. The head of the illegal janitors union here in the US likes to talk about a "world union of workers". (Probably will not happen much since China has the cheapest labor so why go to Colombia?)

It is interesting how the government spins free trade. Who really benefits from free trade with Colombia? Wal-mart? Proflowers.com? Who is paying for the $80,000 a month lobbyists someone in Colombia is paying to get the congress to pass this? The Colombian flower company most probably.

NAFTA, CAFTA-DR, Peru all passed so this probably will not matter much but again who really benefits?

BTW Lots of sugar produced around the city of Cali, Colombia which with Dominican sugar could help end american sugar production some day?

They tell us it is all good.....

Prior to implementation of NAFTA, the US had a net trade surplus with Mexico.
Within 2 years of the implementation of NAFTA the US had a net trade deficit with Mexico.

Are 'free-trade' agreements really good???

In the end, it's all about large corps. playing their political 'hand' to get what they want: unconstrained or unlimited access to vast pools of cheap labor.
NAFTA all but guaranteed the ability for corporations to move production to Mexico and drastically reduce labor ('input') costs. Yet, as is almost always promised... has the retail price of the same products ('output prices') been reduced proportionately as a result? Answer: Not very often, if at all.

Free trade is bad. Fair trade is good. Don't believe corporate propaganda.

Sure hope this is NOT yet ANOTHER attempt to foist NAFTA on South America!