Hey everyone, we're doing it! adelante! Paz, Katherine
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From: Matt Schlobohm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 17:35:06 -0400
Subject: Report back on NO CAFTA call in days
Hi all,
Thanks to everyone who made calls to Senator Snowe this past week urging her
to
oppose CAFTA. Together with our coalition partners, we generated hundreds
of
calls into Sen. Snowe. All of these calls and all of our hard work is
making a
real difference! If we keep it up we can defeat CAFTA.
Sen. Snowe raised a number of concerns about CAFTA during the Senate Finance
Committee hearing this past Wednesday. Here are a couple quotes from various
newspaper articles.
* "We've lost a million jobs since NAFTA," Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine,
said.
* Senator Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine, says she believes the Bush
administration has not done enough to enforce trade agreements to prevent
job
losses.
"We do not know what our government is doing to enforce these agreements,”
she
said. “That is the point. That is why you have lost trust with respect to
these agreements, because so many jobs have been lost. Certainly Maine is
an
example of that, with manufacturing, textile and apparel. We have been
devastated over the last four years. It has been alarming. And that has
been
true across the country."
* Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) questioned how the administration would address
the
issue of Chinese textile transshipment through DR-CAFTA countries.
Now is the time to keep the pressure on! There is more opposition than was
expected to CAFTA in the Senate. Maine Senators Olympia Snowe & Susan
Collins,
especially Snowe, will be extremely important votes on CAFTA. Both of them
remain “undecided” on the agreement. We need to continue to raise the
pressure
on them and push them to come out publicly opposed to CAFTA.
ONE NEXT STEP THAT PEOPLE CAN TAKE IS TO ATTEND THE UPCOMING CITIZEN TRADE
POLICY COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING ON CAFTA AND OTHER TRADE ISSUES.
The public hearing is scheduled for:
Tuesday April 19, 7pm
USM Portland in Luther Bonney Auditorium
We need as strong a showing as possible and we definitely need you there!
People are encouraged to testify.
For more information on the public hearing, including the official press
release, go to: www.mainefairtrade.org
And below find a newspaper article on the recent Senate Finance hearing on
CAFTA as well as the most recent edition of Inside US Trade with more info
on
the Senate hearing.
Thanks for all that you do!
In solidarity,
Matt Schlobohm
Free Trade with Central America Gets Skeptical Hearing in US Congress
By Deborah Tate
Capitol Hill
13 April 2005
U.S. lawmakers are voicing concerns about a proposed free trade agreement
with
Central America (CAFTA), suggesting the Bush administration has an uphill
battle to get congressional passage of the accord.
Acting U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier came to Capitol Hill to urge
lawmakers to approve the trade agreement, which would lower tariffs on
products
traded between Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, the
Dominican Republic and the United States.
Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, Mr. Allgeier said while
nearly
all goods from the six countries now enter the United States duty free, the
same cannot be said of U.S. goods going to those nations. He said that
would
change under the trade agreement:
"More than 80 percent of consumer and industrial goods from the United
States
will become duty free in CAFTA and Dominican Republican on day one of the
agreement,” he said. “More than half of our current farm exports to Central
America will become duty free immediately."
Mr. Allgeier said the pact would nearly double agricultural exports to the
region by $1.5 billion a year.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, agreed, and
warned his colleagues against opposing the accord, known as CAFTA.
"A vote against CAFTA is a vote for the status quo; it is a vote to maintain
unilateral trade, keep our trade barriers to our exports to those countries
very high," he explained.
But the accord is opposed by labor unions, concerned about labor practices
and
lower wages in Central America, and the U.S. sugar industry, because the
pact
would increase the amount of sugar that could be imported into the United
States.
The top Democrat on the Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus of Montana,
says
he has heard concerns about the trade deal from a number of constituents in
his
state, which produces agricultural products, including sugar beets.
"Some of the farmers and ranchers of my state say they have misgivings about
this agreement," he said.
Jack Roney of the American Sugar Alliance said the pact could devastate the
U.S. sugar industry.
Mr. Allgeier responded that there is a provision in the agreement under
which
the United States can compensate Central American exporters in place of
imports
of sugar.
Other Senators are concerned about the impact of the agreement on U.S. jobs.
Some believe their states lost jobs when the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted a decade ago, and they fear more will be lost
under a Central American trade pact.
Senator Olympia Snowe, a Republican from Maine, says she believes the Bush
administration has not done enough to enforce trade agreements to prevent
job
losses.
"We do not know what our government is doing to enforce these agreements,”
she
said. “That is the point. That is why you have lost trust with respect to
these agreements, because so many jobs have been lost. Certainly Maine is
an
example of that, with manufacturing, textile and apparel. We have been
devastated over the last four years. It has been alarming. And that has
been
true across the country."
Mr. Allgeier argued the United States is serious about enforcing trade
pacts,
and said the administration is willing to work more closely with Congress on
the issue.
Central American trade issues were also discussed at a House International
Relations Committee hearing Wednesday.
The House and Senate could vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement
in
the coming months.
************
Inside US Trade
FINANCE MEMBERS CRITICIZE CAFTA, SIGNALING DIFFICULT ROAD IN SENATE
_______________________________________________
Date: April 15, 2005
Nine members of the Senate Finance Committee this week strongly criticized
the free trade agreement the United States has negotiated with Central
American countries and the Dominican Republic (DR-CAFTA), which observers
said could signal a difficult battle to secure approval in the Senate and in
the committee. The committee held its hearing on the agreement on April 13.
Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA), who was the only senator in attendance who
expressed support for the DR-CAFTA as a good deal for U.S. exports,
acknowledged afterwards that the deal faces an uphill fight. "You can see
that [approval of the agreement] is not a sure thing in the Senate or in the
committee," he told reporters after the hearing. But he also said he had
"not taken a poll" of the committee on support for the DR-CAFTA.
An informal business vote count on the finance committee shows that two to
three Republican members are opposing or leaning towards opposing the
agreement, private-sector sources said. A U.S. trade official acknowledged
that there are "some challenges" with Republican members and there is a need
to "shore up" the votes of two to three Republican members. But he insisted
that overall, the vote count in the Senate is "pretty encouraging."
He also said that none of the senators in the hearing said outright they
would vote no on CAFTA when they flagged their objections.
According to the U.S. trade official, the absence of a confirmed U.S. Trade
Representative has hampered the ability to aggressively lobby the Senate at
the principal level. But he expressed the hope that Rep. Robert Portman
(R-OH) would soon be confirmed or that other cabinet-level officials would
take on that kind of lobbying.
One informed source pointed out that Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) is under
pressure to vote no since the two House members from his state have come out
very strongly against CAFTA, and that Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY) may be in
jeopardy of voting no given the opposition taken by Rep. Barbara Cubin
(R-WY).
Losing a single Republican vote could make it difficult to secure passage
since a number of Democrats are likely to vote against the DR-CAFTA. There
are 11 Republican members of the committee, along with eight Democrats and
one Independent.
If Ranking Member Max Baucus (D-MT), who signaled he is unable to support
the agreement at this time, ultimately votes against CAFTA, it would be
"pretty hard" to get other committee Democrats to vote for it, a Senate aide
said. In that case, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) might be the only Democrat
to vote for it, he speculated.
In the hearing, Republican and Democratic members criticized a number of
issues previously raised by interest groups. The additional sugar imports
allowed under the DR-CAFTA were criticized by Baucus, Crapo and Thomas, as
well as Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Kent Conrad (D-ND). Wyden also criticized
what he termed the agreement's excessive protection of brand name
pharmaceutical test data that would effectively prevent generic
manufacturers from being able to market their products in the Central
American countries and the Dominican Republic for five years.
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) criticized the agreement's rules on textiles, while
Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-VT) flagged labor practices in the signatory countries
as a problem. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) said he feared immigration from the
Central American region could increase as a result of small farmers
dislocating due to increased U.S. agricultural exports to the region under
DR-CAFTA. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) questioned whether she could support a
new trade deal when this administration like its predecessors has failed to
enforce existing ones. She also questioned how the administration would
address the issue of Chinese textile transshipment through DR-CAFTA
countries.
A U.S. trade official downplayed the strong opposition against the DR-CAFTA
displayed by committee members by saying that all of the problems raised by
members, including sugar, labor, textiles and the protection of
pharmaceutical patents, had been expected and were also controversial in
other trade agreements. "Nothing we heard surprised us," he said.
Republican Senate staff has told the Bush Administration that the sugar
provisions in the DR-CAFTA pose a problem for members, but officials have
not talked "specifics" about how to address that issue, one informed source
said. But he said the sugar issue is going to be addressed "one way or the
other" during the mock markup process where members will likely offer
amendments to change the agreement. Senate staff fully expects Conrad to
present amendments during the mock markup, he said.
A U.S. trade official said it is "a little premature" to say right now what
the administration may do on sugar and that there will be further
discussions with members such as Baucus. He said the hearing showed a "real
desire" by committee members to better understand how the DR-CAFTA works in
terms of sugar. Informally, officials and congressional staff have explored
possible steps to try to get votes from members with sugar constituencies
(Inside U.S. Trade, April 1, p.1).
But during this week's hearing, Acting U.S. Trade Representative Peter
Allgeier signaled USTR is not interested in providing written commitments on
how the agreement's compensation mechanism would be triggered and
implemented (see related story). He was admonished by Thomas to deal with
the opposition to DR-CAFTA expressed by farm groups like the National
Farmers Union, and not just to ignore it after Allgeier signaled that U.S.
agriculture groups other than sugar producers all supported the DR-CAFTA.
Some DR-CAFTA supporters argue that the Senate hearing may be a sign that
lobbyists have been so focused on the House, they did not spend enough
energy on senators. A Senate aide said that the problems facing DR-CAFTA
have less to do with a lack of Washington lobbying than with local
opposition to the DR-CAFTA. "The grass roots on this are awful," he said.
Leading up to the hearing, three local sugar groups urged Baucus to oppose
the DR-CAFTA. The agreement "is a bad deal for Montana, and your
constituents need you to join the rest of the state's Congressional
delegation in defeating this flawed trade pact," they said in an April 13
letter. It was signed by the Big Horn Country Sugarbeet Growers Assn., the
Montana-Dakota Beet Growers Assn., and the Mountain States Beet Growers
Association of Montana.
In the hearing, Baucus was urged to vote for DR-CAFTA by Lochiel Edwards of
the Montana Grain Growers Assn., who was there as a witness for the National
Assn. of Wheat Growers and the Wheat Export Trade Education Committee.
Edwards said the DR-CAFTA sugar provisions are difficult for U.S. producers,
but said the U.S. sugar program is under pressure to change with or without
the additional imports from DR-CAFTA. "Sugar is going to have to take a look
at its program and find a solution," he said. This issue needs to get
settled for the farm bill, according to Edwards.
Some observers said the impact of the criticism expressed at the hearing was
even more apparent because no members other than Grassley were present to
show their support for DR-CAFTA. They speculated that some of the senators
that plan to support DR-CAFTA may have stayed away deliberately because they
did not want to tip their hand, which may have made them the target of
anti-CAFTA lobbying.
Three strong DR-CAFTA supporters on the committee, Sens. Rick Santorum
(R-PA), Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and John Kyl (R-AZ), were
not present because of a bicameral leadership conference scheduled for the
same time, sources pointed out. Similarly, Sens. Orin Hatch (R-UT) and Trent
Lott (R-MS) were absent, a U.S. trade official said.
However, Santorum, Frist, Kyl and Lott were among the members who sent an
April 14 letter to President Bush urging him to resist "those who seek
exclusions or new negotiations that would undermine the essential value of
this agreement" even though products like sugar are "politically sensitive."
The senators said their own support of the free trade deal depends on the
DR-CAFTA remaining comprehensive and intact, according to the letter
reprinted below.
Other signatories are Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Sununu (R-NH), Dick
Lugar (R-IN), John Ensign (R-NV) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN).
Grassley said he would not rush the consideration of the DR-CAFTA in the
committee given the range of objections raised by members. Speaking to
reporters after the hearing, he said he generally hopes to get a vote on the
agreement during July before the August recess. But he indicated that
timetable could slide. "If it does not work out that way, it does not work
out that way," he said.
"I have a responsibility as a chairman to respond to these concerns that
have been expressed and it would be foolhardy on my part to ignore them,"
Grassley said. He said it would take "a while" before the committee would
proceed to a mock markup given the many problems members had presented
during the hearing and on other occasions.
Grassley "appreciates the fact that Baucus does not want to rush the process
[of considering the DR-CAFTA]," one informed source said. A Senate aide said
that a slower process will give members a chance to work out with the
Administration what they want and need in order to support DR-CAFTA. In his
public comments, Baucus said that any effort to rush the DR-CAFTA through
Congress could backfire when Congress considers a renewal of fast-track.
Grassley told reporters that his effort to secure the necessary votes
includes talking to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss
(R-GA), which he said he has not done. "But I know I have to," he said.
Chambliss has publicly announced his opposition to DR-CAFTA, but Grassley
said he has been told by other senators that Chambliss "has hedged a bit" in
his opposition. If Chambliss cannot be persuaded to vote for the agreement,
opponents believe it would give cover to a number of southern Republicans to
vote against the agreement (see related story).
Grassley said that he has made a commitment to Baucus to work on the
problems that Baucus has identified with the DR-CAFTA. In addition to sugar,
a Senate aide said Baucus will likely raise the absence of a dedicated
funding mechanism for environmental capacity building projects for DR-CAFTA
in written questions to the administration. Committee members were scheduled
to present their written questions to committee staff yesterday (April 14).
At the hearing, Baucus highlighted what he charged was the absence of
leadership from the White House on the DR-CAFTA by pointing out that
President Bush has done little to work for the passage of the agreement.
"I have seen nothing to suggest that this agreement is in any way a priority
for the White House," he said in his opening statement. He said it is
apparent that President Bush is willing to take significant actions to
advance issues from the way he advanced tax cuts and is now pushing reforms
of social security. No comparable effort has been forthcoming from the White
House on DR-CAFTA, Baucus charged.
A pro-CAFTA business lobbyist agreed with Baucus's assessment and said that
the only thing White House officials want to talk about is changing the
Social Security system. But a U.S. trade official said that while the White
House is not directly involved at the current stage of the DR-CAFTA, he
expected the White House to be more involved as the consideration of the
agreement proceeds. He signaled this was the same approach the White House
had used with other trade agreements.
In a related development, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) has launched an anti
"CAFTA Action Caucus" with Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), urging senators in a
March 30 dear colleague letter to join the opposition to DR-CAFTA because it
would undermine the sugar and textile industry in the United States.
--
Matt Schlobohm, coordinator
Maine Fair Trade Campaign
217 South Mountain Rd.
Greene, ME 04236
PH: (207) 777-6387
FAX: (207) 783-5096
www.pica.ws/mftc
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