[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Fwd: Clinton Seeks To Broaden NAFTA (fwd)
This article is accurate for the most part. However, I am constrained to
observe that Lori Wallach is Director of Public Citizen's Global Trade
Watch, NOT "Ralph Nader's Citizens Trade Campaign."
Mr. Nader founded Public Citizen twenty-six years ago, but is no longer
involved in our day-to-day. The Citizen's Trade Campaign is a national
coalition of environmantal groups, labor unions, family farm
organizations and religious and human rights activists. Public Citizen is
a member group within the CTC.
Mike Dolan
Public Citizen | Internet: mdolan@Citizen.ORG
<HTML><PRE><I>.c The Associated Press</I></PRE></HTML>
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
WASHINGTON (AP) - The ``giant sucking sound'' may have fallen
silent. But other battle cries will replace it this fall as
President Clinton and his opponents launch another big fight over
trade.
This time, the struggle will be over giving Clinton the
negotiating authority he needs to expand free trade beyond Mexico
to other Latin American countries.
Among the issues that opponents will raise: drug smuggling,
unsafe trucks and health threats from imported food.
The administration is aiming for a big kickoff event at the
White House on Sept. 10. Clinton will be trying to win
congressional approval for ``fast-track,'' which grants him the
power to negotiate trade deals that Congress must consider quickly
and cannot amend.
The fight promises to be every bit as bruising as the 1993
battle to win approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement
with Canada and Mexico.
In that contest, Ross Perot warned that eliminating trade
barriers with Mexico would result in a ``giant sucking sound'' of
U.S. jobs flowing south as companies moved factories to Mexico to
take advantage of low wages.
The administration branded Perot's accusation a scare tactic and
argued instead that NAFTA, by lowering Mexico's barriers to U.S.
exports, would produce thousands of new American jobs.
The actual results from NAFTA's first three years call both
sides' claims into question.
Labor unions have trouble pushing their argument of many lost
jobs, given that unemployment in the United States now stands at a
24-year low of 4.8 percent.
And the administration, confronted with soaring Mexican and
Canadian trade deficits, concedes it oversold NAFTA's job-creating
potential. Instead, it last month issued a toned-down report that
claimed positive, but modest, economic impacts.
NAFTA opponents haven't abandoned the jobs issue. But they've
added new arguments to their arsenal - health threats from imported
food, dangers from unsafe Mexican trucks, and drug smuggling made
easier because of U.S.-Mexico trade.
The food issue gained prominence earlier this year after
imported Mexican strawberries were blamed for a hepatitis outbreak
among schoolchildren in Michigan. Concerns were heightened by this
week's announcement that a U.S. meat processing company was
recalling 25 million pounds of hamburger due to concerns about E.
coli bacteria.
The problem with Hudson Foods Inc.'s beef patties has not been
linked to imports. Nevertheless, NAFTA opponents hope to use the
headlines to spotlight concerns over the adequacy of inspections
for both domestic and imported food.
``Trade agreements are very much tools for deregulation and the
result is unsafe food, dangerous trucks on the highway and a lack
of border inspections,'' said Lori Wallach, director of Ralph
Nader's Citizens Trade Campaign.
``If your job doesn't go to Mexico, then you may not be worried
about job loss from NAFTA. But everybody eats.''
For its part, the administration also is trying to broaden the
upcoming debate by insisting the stakes go far beyond a deal with
any single country.
Officials stress that Clinton needs new authority not only to
expand free trade to other Latin American countries but also to
create a free trade area among Pacific Rim countries to lower
barriers for American farmers, telecommunications companies and
banks.
The effort has been stalled for two years because of
disagreement between Clinton and Republican supporters over how to
deal with labor and environmental issues.
But Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky suggested recently
that a compromise may be in the works along the lines suggested by
House trade subcommittee chairman Philip Crane, R-Ill. It would
allow language to cover labor and environmental issues if they were
``directly trade related.''
Meanwhile, union leaders, emboldened by their success in the
United Parcel Service strike, contend that any future trade deals
must have iron-clad guarantees ensuring foreign workers are not
exploited.
Unions also want assurances that companies will not be tempted
to move factories to other nations to take advantage of lax
environmental rules.
``It is all part of the same `throwaway worker' concept,'' said
Teamsters Union President Ron Carey. ``It has got to stop, and
stopping fast-track will be the kind of thing we need to do.''
AP-NY-08-22-97 1427EDT
<HTML><PRE><I><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2> Copyright 1997 The
Associated Press. The information
contained in the AP news report may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without
prior written authority of The Associated Press.<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3>
</I></PRE></HTML>
To edit your profile, go to keyword NewsProfiles.
For all of today's news, go to keyword News.