by Alan Tonelson, Research Fellow, U.S. Business and Industry Council
Sunday, April 24, 2005
… My correspondent … believes that [CAFTA is] far from perfect from
a domestic textile industry standpoint, but at least it will enable
them to keep some business in selling fabric that would otherwise go to
the Chinese — because the agreement’s provisions ostensibly give
preferences for apparel assembled in Central America from U.S.-produced
materials.
I think he’s wrong …
Dear X:
…
Far from being a quixotic campaign to go back to the past, my
organization and I consider a wholly new U.S. trade policy to be our
nation’s only option for retaining a critical mass of manufacturing at
home, along with all the economic, social and national security
benefits that manufacturing creates.
…
One of the main goals of our effort is preserving America’s ability to
set trade policy priorities, and thereby ensure that the intended
beneficiaries of new trade agreements – both domestic and foreign –
actually receive these gains. That’s of course one of the stated
rationales for CAFTA, as your letter recognizes. But nothing about
CAFTA or the rest of current U.S. trade policy provides any reason to
suppose that signing this agreement will produce these results.
In the first place, CAFTA contains many loopholes that will directly
undercut the important goal of helping Central American producers
maintain or create competitive advantage vis-