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CAFTA
July 28, 2005 ( politics )
Well, CAFTA passed. Free Trade is one of those wonderful-sounding terms that is nothing like what you imagine it to be. It basically means "easier to exploit international labor and send jobs to wherever the worst worker's rights and environmental laws are." It does not mean fair import tariffs, reducing the imbalance caused by government subsidization, or anything that'd actually be, well, useful.
The real barriers that US policies never ever touch are subsidies. The documentaty Life + Debt shows how US dairy subsidies destroyed the entire Jamaican dairy market, because the US can sell milk so dramatically below cost that the increased cost via shipping still combine to lower than the price of local milk.
Tariffs are often a target of free trade, and I have mixed feelings about them. Generally, I think, no tariffs would be great. What usually happens is that everyone agrees to no-tariffs, and then the US finds a way to bully people into paying tariffs, but refuses to pay other countries' tariffs. If, for example, Ja could have placed a tariff on subsidized milk, the price would have risen to local market values, and provided more revenue to the gov't that didn't increase the tax burden (80% of tax income goes to debt repayment, so Ja has very, very little money for social programs).
Failing outright tariffs, the US does things like requiring all importers to get an ID (with an annual fee based on how much you import) for "security" reasons.
I have a great friend who runs a non-profit in Nicaragua which works with local artisans and farmers to get them a fair price on their work and reduce poverty, and she has this to say on CAFTA:
Many people are confused about what free trade is. The legislation that just passed was about "eliminating trade barriers." The "barriers" they are referring to are "barriers" to the United States corporations and government like:* having to pay someone a fair wage for their work (= more money in labor costs paid out by U.S. corporations)
* respecting intellectual property rights instead of stealing them
* respecting environmental protection laws instead of destroying the environment in their wake
* paying any taxes to the countries where you have your sweatshops
"Free trade" essentially means that you trade for free.
Poverty has increased 20-30% in countries with free trade
"Free trade" means exploiting people in the name of profit. This means that corporations in the U.S., and the politicans who cater to them, are all about to get a lot richer.
IF THIS IS "FREE," THAN WHAT DOES "FREEDOM" MEAN???
To which I'd only add a quote from Owen "Blacka" Ellis, a Jamaican poet and playwright -- "Freedom: Who's free? Who's Dumb?"
Posted by griffjon at July 28, 2005 11:06 AM
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