Trade Follies
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Democrats | Economic Antediluvianism | Economy | Free Trade | Protectionism — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Either Nancy Pelosi doesn't understand the nature of the U.S.-Colombia trade deal, or she thinks that she can fool the public. In any event, she makes a hash of things in trying to explain why she allowed for fast-track authority to expire--thus putting the deal on the back burner:
Democrats will vote on a free trade agreement with Colombia only after the White House and Congress address pressing domestic economic concerns, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday.
"We still believe it is possible to bring the Colombia free trade agreement to the floor under the proper circumstances, but first we need to address the worsening economy," Pelosi told reporters.
Earlier, President George W. Bush said the pact was "dead" until Pelosi scheduled a vote.
"This has to be done in recognition not only of the concerns that we have about human rights violations of workers in Colombia, but based on the economic security of America's workers here in our country," the California Democrat said.
"We ask the president to, once again, bring his people to the table so we can move forward," she said.
Administration officials said they have been trying for months to engage Pelosi in talks on bringing the pact to the floor for a vote, only to have their efforts ignored.
One does not know whether to laugh or cry. American markets are already open to Colombia products. The deal opens Colombian markets to American products. How American workers do not benefit from having another market opened to the things they make is beyond comprehension.
But of course, there are a lot of myths associated with the rejection of the trade agreement. And concerns about American workers and the environment are Pavlovian and come about with the advent of any trade deal, the facts notwithstanding. Robert Zoellick was right and while I hate to say that I told you so, I did.
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Senator Olympia Snowe released a statement detailing why she is against the Columbian Free Trade proposal.
From Senator Snowe's web site :
April 7, 2008
Washington, D.C. -
U.S. Senator Snowe (R-Maine), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Finance, spoke out in opposition to the administration’s decision to submit the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement to Congress for consideration under the "Fast-Track" Trade Promotion Authority.
"I will not support the FTA with Colombia due to ongoing concerns about Bogotá’s failure to prosecute individuals, including some close to its government and military, who have murdered and otherwise oppressed union leaders in that country," Senator Snowe said. "Mere progress by the Colombian Government in reducing still unconscionable levels of violence against trade unionists is simply not enough. An FTA creates a privileged trade relationship between economies that function along the same basic lines, but that is not the situation with Colombia – where violent suppression of labor rights, in addition to the human rights outrage it represents, also put U.S. workers and businesses at risk from unfair competition by Colombian producers who willfully make use of exploited workers."
Senator Snowe also rejected the argument that the FTA simply eliminates the one-sided nature of the existing Andean trade preference program, under which most Colombian goods are already allowed into the U.S. at reduced duty rates.
"Unlike the current unilateral preference program which must be periodically renewed by Congress, the duty reductions extended to Colombian products under the FTA would be permanent, thus abandoning the main U.S. leverage for motivating Colombia to end violence against union leaders. Moreover, the agreement’s investment provisions— which are not part of the existing preference program—would make it easier for corporations to move their manufacturing operations to Colombia and out of countries, such as the United States, with greater labor rights protections."
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Cry. She's the Speaker of the House. If that doesn't deserve tears, nothing in politics does. :)
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
the economy and she must not understand how this trade deal benefits America.
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