Senate Panel Narrowly Endorses CAFTA
World Bank: CAFTA to require C.America investments
U.S. blocked release of CAFTA reports
Senate Panel Narrowly Endorses CAFTA
By JIM ABRAMS
The Associated Press
Wednesday, June 29, 2005; 10:53 AM
WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee on Wednesday approved a trade agreement with Latin American nations, moving Congress a step closer to a decision on an accord that may have minimal effects on the U.S. economy but is of considerable political import to the Bush administration.
The Finance Committee approved the agreement by a voice vote, although it was closely divided on the issue. The bill now goes to the full Senate for a vote as early as this week. Passage in the Senate, traditionally more sympathetic to trade agreements, could give the measure some momentum in the House, where there is stiffer opposition.
The Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, would end trade barriers now encountered by U.S. goods in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. It also would ease investment rules, strengthen protections for intellectual property and, according to supporters, solidify economic and democratic stability in the region.
But the agreement has run into vigorous opposition from labor groups, and their Democratic allies, who say its provisions on labor rights are weak, and from the U.S. sugar industry, which claims that an increase in Central American imports, while small, could open the door to ruin.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., a key undecided vote on the Finance Committee, announced he was supporting the pact after the administration answered some of his concerns about the "serious lack of attention to the enforcement of worker rights."
He said he had pledges of an extra $40 million over four years to promote labor laws. The administration also told him it will spend $30 million over five years to help subsistence farmers in three Central American countries who might be displaced by an increase in U.S. agriculture imports.
The Bush administration has waged a relentless lobbying effort in the past month. President Bush invited all six CAFTA presidents to the White House and hailed the agreement in several recent speeches to Hispanic-American and other groups. U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns are constantly on Capitol Hill, talking to undecided lawmakers.
Johanns met Monday with senators and representatives of the sugar industry, and again on Tuesday with lawmakers, to discuss proposals to assure that CAFTA will not undermine the industry's future viability. Those plans included the government buying up increased sugar cane imports from Central America to be used in the production of ethanol.
Republican Sen. Craig Thomas, whose state of Wyoming has a large sugar beet industry, told the Finance Committee that "it distresses me a little" that only now, when a final vote on CAFTA is looming, is the administration getting serious about the sugar issue.
But Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., suggested that there could be repercussions for the industry, always well-protected by Congress, if it succeeded in scuttling the agreement. "This could be devastating to them if not handled right," he said.
The top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Max Baucus of sugar beet-growing Montana, opposes CAFTA, breaking with his usual support of trade agreements.
In addition to saying that the agreement was bad for the sugar industry, he criticized the administration for rejecting a proposal to help U.S. service industry workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition and for not consulting more with Congress.
"They appear to want to win by the thinnest of margins," he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062900752.html
World Bank: CAFTA to require C.America investments
28 Jun 2005 20:08:58 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Laura MacInnis
WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - A pending free trade pact with the United States stands to spur growth across Central America, but the region will need to boost spending on schools and roads to reap the accord's full benefits, the World Bank said on Tuesday.
The U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, would lower barriers to U.S. exports to six Central American and Caribbean countries and lock in preferential access those nations already enjoy in the U.S. market.
The pact -- which includes the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic -- was signed last year but has not yet been ratified by the U.S. Congress amid concerns about job losses.
If approved, the World Bank said the pact would likely trigger a burst of growth to its Central American signatories worth about 0.6 percent per year over its first five years.
Most people in the region should benefit as exports to the United States -- the region's top trading partner -- accelerate under CAFTA, the World Bank said in a study on the impact of the pact.
Still, the development lender warned some could suffer as tariffs and protections on products like beef, dairy, poultry, beans and rice are gradually phased out under the pact.
It said Central America will need substantial investments in primary education and rural infrastructure to help those disrupted by the trade deal, many of whom are already poor.
"The better educated workers tend to benefit more than the poorly educated workers," Guillermo Perry, the World Bank's chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, said.
He said countries should to seek to raise education levels "so that benefits can be better distributed."
To accomplish this, the World Bank said Central American governments would need to rethink their spending priorities and improve tax collection to free up public funds.
Jane Armitage, World Bank director for Central America, said some countries would benefit from more spending on primary and secondary schooling, instead of a current focus on tertiary or college-level education.
She urged Central America to strive to become more investor-friendly, through streamlined regulations and other measures, to attract private-sector partners for infrastructure projects like roads, electricity and telecommunications.
Such moves could also help spur economic activity in new sectors in Central America, the World Bank said, pointing to Mexico's emergence as a machinery exporter after it entered a free trade pact with the United States and Canada in 1994.
CAFTA has met opposition in the U.S. Congress where lawmakers have voiced concerns the accord could hurt the United States' textile, manufacturing and sugar industries.
The Washington-based World Bank did not assess CAFTA's likely impact on the United States in its 201-page report.
Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, a World Bank lead economist and co-author of the study, said Central America makes up only a tiny fraction of U.S. trade and economic output.
"We don't think there will be any large impact on the U.S.," he said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28348930.htm
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 ยท Last updated 6:13 a.m. PT
AP: U.S. blocked release of CAFTA reports
By LARRY MARGASAK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- The Labor Department kept secret for more than a year government studies that supported Democratic opponents of the Bush administration's new Central American trade deal, internal documents show.
The studies, paid for by the department, concluded that several countries the administration wants to be granted free-trade status have poor working conditions and fail to protect workers' rights. The agency dismissed the conclusions as inaccurate and biased, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
"In practice, labor laws on the books in Central America are not sufficient to deter employers from violations, as actual sanctions for violations of the law are weak or nonexistent," the contractor, the International Labor Rights Fund, wrote in one of the reports.
The studies' conclusions contrast with the administration's arguments that Central American countries have made enough progress on such issues to warrant a free-trade deal with the United States.
The administration and its congressional supporters argue that the elimination of trade barriers for U.S. products would open new Central American markets for U.S. farmers and manufacturers. Critics argue the trade agreement would allow serious labor violations to continue in Central America.
Hoping to lure enough Democratic votes to win passages, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman earlier this month promised to spend money and arrange an international conference to ensure "the best agreement ever negotiated by the United States on labor rights."
But behind the scenes, the administration began as early as spring 2004 to block the reports' public release.
The Labor Department instructed its contractor to remove the reports from its Web site, ordered it to retrieve paper copies before they became public, banned release of new information from the reports, and even told the contractor it couldn't discuss the studies with outsiders.
The Labor Department has now worked out a deal with the contractor that will allow the labor rights group to release the country-by-country final reports - provided there's no mention of the agency or federal funding. At the same time, the administration began a pre-emptive campaign to undercut the study's conclusions.
Used as talking points by trade-pact supporters, a Labor Department document accuses the contractor of writing a report filled with "unsubstantiated" statements and "biased attacks, not the facts."
The contractor's deputy director, Bama Athreya, blamed U.S. Trade Representative officials for circulating the document and citing passages that won't be included in the final versions of the reports.
One lawmaker said he was shocked that a federal agency charged with protecting the rights of Americans workers would go to such lengths to block the public from seeing its own contractor's concerns before Congress votes on the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
"You would think if any agency in our government would care about this, it would be the Labor Department," Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said.
Dorgan said he would use the contractor findings in an attempt to defeat the agreement, known as CAFTA.
Dirk Fillpot, spokesman for the Labor Department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs, said the agency and an independent evaluator concluded the contractor "failed to meet the academic rigor expected to fulfill its contract" and the relationship was terminated June 10.
The competitively bid contract totaled $937,000, but Fillpot said $250,000 will be refunded to the Treasury.
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who supports the trade agreement, said he is familiar with drafts of the reports and believes they will be "widely dismissed as a fraud." He accused the contractor of producing "a propaganda piece" and concealing "its rabid anti-CAFTA bias."
Athreya, the contractor official, has testified in Congress against the agreement.
The documents show the studies came within a whisker of widespread release in March 2004, when the labor-rights group posted them briefly on its Internet site.
The Labor Department quickly and successfully demanded the reports be removed on grounds they weren't approved by the agency. Officials also demanded the group retrieve a limited number of paper copies that were distributed at a hearing of a Latin American human rights body.
Shortly after that incident, Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., began a yearlong effort to pry the studies from the department through a Freedom of Information Act request. The department rejected his request until two months ago, when Levin received - and released - early drafts of the reports.
The Trade Representative's spokesman, Richard Mills, said trade officials referred to the Labor Department's critical document after receiving inquiries about the studies.
"From our perspective, nothing has changed. It's a great agreement that will improve labor conditions in Central America," Mills said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1155&slug=Free%20Trade%20Studies
U.S. blocked release of CAFTA reports
Senate Panel Narrowly Endorses CAFTA
By JIM ABRAMS
The Associated Press
Wednesday, June 29, 2005; 10:53 AM
WASHINGTON -- A Senate committee on Wednesday approved a trade agreement with Latin American nations, moving Congress a step closer to a decision on an accord that may have minimal effects on the U.S. economy but is of considerable political import to the Bush administration.
The Finance Committee approved the agreement by a voice vote, although it was closely divided on the issue. The bill now goes to the full Senate for a vote as early as this week. Passage in the Senate, traditionally more sympathetic to trade agreements, could give the measure some momentum in the House, where there is stiffer opposition.
The Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, would end trade barriers now encountered by U.S. goods in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. It also would ease investment rules, strengthen protections for intellectual property and, according to supporters, solidify economic and democratic stability in the region.
But the agreement has run into vigorous opposition from labor groups, and their Democratic allies, who say its provisions on labor rights are weak, and from the U.S. sugar industry, which claims that an increase in Central American imports, while small, could open the door to ruin.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., a key undecided vote on the Finance Committee, announced he was supporting the pact after the administration answered some of his concerns about the "serious lack of attention to the enforcement of worker rights."
He said he had pledges of an extra $40 million over four years to promote labor laws. The administration also told him it will spend $30 million over five years to help subsistence farmers in three Central American countries who might be displaced by an increase in U.S. agriculture imports.
The Bush administration has waged a relentless lobbying effort in the past month. President Bush invited all six CAFTA presidents to the White House and hailed the agreement in several recent speeches to Hispanic-American and other groups. U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns are constantly on Capitol Hill, talking to undecided lawmakers.
Johanns met Monday with senators and representatives of the sugar industry, and again on Tuesday with lawmakers, to discuss proposals to assure that CAFTA will not undermine the industry's future viability. Those plans included the government buying up increased sugar cane imports from Central America to be used in the production of ethanol.
Republican Sen. Craig Thomas, whose state of Wyoming has a large sugar beet industry, told the Finance Committee that "it distresses me a little" that only now, when a final vote on CAFTA is looming, is the administration getting serious about the sugar issue.
But Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., suggested that there could be repercussions for the industry, always well-protected by Congress, if it succeeded in scuttling the agreement. "This could be devastating to them if not handled right," he said.
The top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Max Baucus of sugar beet-growing Montana, opposes CAFTA, breaking with his usual support of trade agreements.
In addition to saying that the agreement was bad for the sugar industry, he criticized the administration for rejecting a proposal to help U.S. service industry workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition and for not consulting more with Congress.
"They appear to want to win by the thinnest of margins," he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/29/AR2005062900752.html
World Bank: CAFTA to require C.America investments
28 Jun 2005 20:08:58 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Laura MacInnis
WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - A pending free trade pact with the United States stands to spur growth across Central America, but the region will need to boost spending on schools and roads to reap the accord's full benefits, the World Bank said on Tuesday.
The U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, would lower barriers to U.S. exports to six Central American and Caribbean countries and lock in preferential access those nations already enjoy in the U.S. market.
The pact -- which includes the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic -- was signed last year but has not yet been ratified by the U.S. Congress amid concerns about job losses.
If approved, the World Bank said the pact would likely trigger a burst of growth to its Central American signatories worth about 0.6 percent per year over its first five years.
Most people in the region should benefit as exports to the United States -- the region's top trading partner -- accelerate under CAFTA, the World Bank said in a study on the impact of the pact.
Still, the development lender warned some could suffer as tariffs and protections on products like beef, dairy, poultry, beans and rice are gradually phased out under the pact.
It said Central America will need substantial investments in primary education and rural infrastructure to help those disrupted by the trade deal, many of whom are already poor.
"The better educated workers tend to benefit more than the poorly educated workers," Guillermo Perry, the World Bank's chief economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, said.
He said countries should to seek to raise education levels "so that benefits can be better distributed."
To accomplish this, the World Bank said Central American governments would need to rethink their spending priorities and improve tax collection to free up public funds.
Jane Armitage, World Bank director for Central America, said some countries would benefit from more spending on primary and secondary schooling, instead of a current focus on tertiary or college-level education.
She urged Central America to strive to become more investor-friendly, through streamlined regulations and other measures, to attract private-sector partners for infrastructure projects like roads, electricity and telecommunications.
Such moves could also help spur economic activity in new sectors in Central America, the World Bank said, pointing to Mexico's emergence as a machinery exporter after it entered a free trade pact with the United States and Canada in 1994.
CAFTA has met opposition in the U.S. Congress where lawmakers have voiced concerns the accord could hurt the United States' textile, manufacturing and sugar industries.
The Washington-based World Bank did not assess CAFTA's likely impact on the United States in its 201-page report.
Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, a World Bank lead economist and co-author of the study, said Central America makes up only a tiny fraction of U.S. trade and economic output.
"We don't think there will be any large impact on the U.S.," he said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28348930.htm
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 ยท Last updated 6:13 a.m. PT
AP: U.S. blocked release of CAFTA reports
By LARRY MARGASAK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- The Labor Department kept secret for more than a year government studies that supported Democratic opponents of the Bush administration's new Central American trade deal, internal documents show.
The studies, paid for by the department, concluded that several countries the administration wants to be granted free-trade status have poor working conditions and fail to protect workers' rights. The agency dismissed the conclusions as inaccurate and biased, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
"In practice, labor laws on the books in Central America are not sufficient to deter employers from violations, as actual sanctions for violations of the law are weak or nonexistent," the contractor, the International Labor Rights Fund, wrote in one of the reports.
The studies' conclusions contrast with the administration's arguments that Central American countries have made enough progress on such issues to warrant a free-trade deal with the United States.
The administration and its congressional supporters argue that the elimination of trade barriers for U.S. products would open new Central American markets for U.S. farmers and manufacturers. Critics argue the trade agreement would allow serious labor violations to continue in Central America.
Hoping to lure enough Democratic votes to win passages, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman earlier this month promised to spend money and arrange an international conference to ensure "the best agreement ever negotiated by the United States on labor rights."
But behind the scenes, the administration began as early as spring 2004 to block the reports' public release.
The Labor Department instructed its contractor to remove the reports from its Web site, ordered it to retrieve paper copies before they became public, banned release of new information from the reports, and even told the contractor it couldn't discuss the studies with outsiders.
The Labor Department has now worked out a deal with the contractor that will allow the labor rights group to release the country-by-country final reports - provided there's no mention of the agency or federal funding. At the same time, the administration began a pre-emptive campaign to undercut the study's conclusions.
Used as talking points by trade-pact supporters, a Labor Department document accuses the contractor of writing a report filled with "unsubstantiated" statements and "biased attacks, not the facts."
The contractor's deputy director, Bama Athreya, blamed U.S. Trade Representative officials for circulating the document and citing passages that won't be included in the final versions of the reports.
One lawmaker said he was shocked that a federal agency charged with protecting the rights of Americans workers would go to such lengths to block the public from seeing its own contractor's concerns before Congress votes on the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
"You would think if any agency in our government would care about this, it would be the Labor Department," Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said.
Dorgan said he would use the contractor findings in an attempt to defeat the agreement, known as CAFTA.
Dirk Fillpot, spokesman for the Labor Department's Bureau of International Labor Affairs, said the agency and an independent evaluator concluded the contractor "failed to meet the academic rigor expected to fulfill its contract" and the relationship was terminated June 10.
The competitively bid contract totaled $937,000, but Fillpot said $250,000 will be refunded to the Treasury.
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who supports the trade agreement, said he is familiar with drafts of the reports and believes they will be "widely dismissed as a fraud." He accused the contractor of producing "a propaganda piece" and concealing "its rabid anti-CAFTA bias."
Athreya, the contractor official, has testified in Congress against the agreement.
The documents show the studies came within a whisker of widespread release in March 2004, when the labor-rights group posted them briefly on its Internet site.
The Labor Department quickly and successfully demanded the reports be removed on grounds they weren't approved by the agency. Officials also demanded the group retrieve a limited number of paper copies that were distributed at a hearing of a Latin American human rights body.
Shortly after that incident, Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., began a yearlong effort to pry the studies from the department through a Freedom of Information Act request. The department rejected his request until two months ago, when Levin received - and released - early drafts of the reports.
The Trade Representative's spokesman, Richard Mills, said trade officials referred to the Labor Department's critical document after receiving inquiries about the studies.
"From our perspective, nothing has changed. It's a great agreement that will improve labor conditions in Central America," Mills said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1155&slug=Free%20Trade%20Studies
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