May 8, 2008

From Central America's Ambassadors

A letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from the ambassadors from Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Latin America and the United States are joined by geography, culture and common values. For many years, the exchange of goods and services across borders has been a vital factor in maintaining a mutually beneficial relationship. The approval of the free trade agreement between the United States and Colombia would be another step toward deepening that relationship, toward fair and equitable integration of our nations, and most importantly, toward securing the stability and peace of the Western Hemisphere.

Posted by Carter Wood at 9:09 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Blood Outta Stone

Nice featurette at U.S. News' Washington Whispers column on Ag Secretary Ed Schafer, "boyhood farmer, telecommunications exec, conservationist, Junkyard Wars runner-up, and classic car and tractor restorer ." Don't forget manufacturing executive. And governor, that, too. Meanwhile, President Bush is preparing to veto a "bloated" farm bill.

Texas tea, brewed strong. "Austin, TX (AHN) - While the rest of the nation is reeling from soaring oil prices, Texas is benefiting from the non-stop rise in prices of black gold. Oil revenues' contribution to state budget would result to a $10.7 billion budget surplus." Certainly not limited to Texas: "'I think the bulk of Montana's budget surplus comes from the oil fields of Richland and Fallon counties,' said Richland County Commissioner Mark Rehbein." That's the Bakken play at work.

While Congress stalled, stuttered and stomped: "At Vienna, the EU and Central American nations, including Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, agreed to launch free trade talks. The 27-nation bloc also agreed to similar negotiations with four Andean countries including Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador."

Sometimes, just the thinking is flat. Henry Payne reports the reaction of airline executives to a recent Thomas Friedman column on global jetting and fossil fuels. Friedman's enthusiasm for biofuel-powered airlines is naive, they imply, and if there's one thing airline execs know, it's fuel usage. Payne: "They are extremely fuel conscious — but not because they are converts to Friedman’s religion. Fuel has always been a major business cost and so airlines are constantly investing in new planes to keep costs down. In the last eight years alone, for example — even as Delta’s fleet number has remained stable — the airline cut its fuel bill by 25 percent." Reading Friedman's columns in recent years, you sometimes think he should get out a little less.

Looks like Law & Order is actually shaping up. They've abandoned the steady beat of anti-corporate propaganda for pro-union propaganda! Yay! Last night's episode summary: "Strike -- A legal aid strike ends in the death of a lawyer, and the investigation leads to a golf pro who proclaims his innocence, again. Then the case takes an even stranger twist when Rubirosa is pitted against Cutter because of the strike that started it all." New detective actor Anthony Andrews must feel right at home, switching from Fox's short-lived "K-Ville" agitprop to "L&O" agitprop.

Posted by Carter Wood at 9:09 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Let Canada Create the Jobs, Sell the Wheat

From Reuters:

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is "very close" to concluding free trade negotiations with Colombia, Trade Minister David Emerson said on Monday, calling those opposed to the deal on human rights grounds as simply "dogmatic."

Emerson also presented legislation to Parliament to enact a free trade pact with the European Free Trade Association, comprised of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

And from Bloomberg, citing Prime Minister Stephen Harper's leadership on the issue:

Harper has made the issue a priority, saying an agreement will help improve democracy in Colombia and help President Alvaro Uribe stem violence against labor leaders.

A Canada-Colombia accord also would give Canadian farmers preferential access to the U.S.'s third largest market for wheat exports in Latin America at a time when Democrats in Congress are stalling a similar deal over concerns about violence against labor organizers in Colombia.

Colombia’s Vice-President Francisco Santos Calderón is visiting Canada this week.

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:31 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

May 7, 2008

Exports, Keeping Economy In the Black

Good story in today's Washington Post, "Buoyed by Foreign Money," on export-driven economic growth, including a 5.5 annual rate of increased exports in the first quarter.

Locally, firms have shared in the growth, and they have a lot at stake should it tail off. Virginia's export shipments totaled $16.9 billion in 2007, up 56 percent from 2003. Meanwhile, Maryland's export shipments totaled $8.9 billion in 2007, an increase of 18 percent from the year before and 81 percent from 2003.

The story quotes the NAM's David Huether, our chief economist.

"What is happening now in the economy really shows why it is important for the U.S. economy to be engaged globally," Huether said. "When there are slowdowns in certain parts of the domestic economy, it is a real benefit when there is another pillar holding things up."

This related Bloomberg story is of interest, big picturewise, "German Economy to Grow More Slowly, IW Institute Says."

The survey partly reflects that companies are still benefiting from export growth and consumer demand that's growing as unemployment falls and real wages expand, the IW said. "Robust'' economic growth this year in the euro-region will likely deter the European Central Bank from lowering interest rates, Michael Huether, the IW's director, said in an interview. "Lower interest rates are just not on the agenda."

Hold on, there. An economist named Huether?

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:18 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Colombia FTA: Inaction A Billion-Dollar Mistake

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez announced earlier this week that at 8:51 p.m. on Sunday, May 4th, the cost of unnecessary tariffs imposed on American goods entering Colombia had reached $1 billion since the Colombia trade agreement was signed. Yes, that’s billion. With a “B”.

The Department of Commerce estimates that “every single second that goes by without a vote on the Agreement costs roughly $22, and nearly $2 million every day.”

But what’s the real benefit of trade with Colombia for workers in the United States?

Try $523.18. That’s the value of U.S. manufactured goods exports to Colombia last year broken down for every manufacturing worker in the United States. That’s almost the value of the average economic stimulus check that are being mailed out this month.

UPDATE (4:06 p.m.): After kicking around this figure internally with our trade staff, we revisited this figure to develop a more accurate (and more recent) amount. Looking at annualized export figures for this year, the share per manufacturing worker of U.S. manufactured goods exports to Colombia is actually $671.61.

Posted by Keith Smith at 1:02 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

May 6, 2008

India Needs to Get Serious on Doha

From Reuters, a story anticipating a meeting in NYC Thursday between U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and India Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, with Doha high on the agenda. India is resisting demands made by the U.S. and EU that advanced developing countries open their markets to more foreign manufactured goods.

Speaking in advance of the India talks, Frank Vargo, vice president for international economic affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers, criticized New Delhi, saying: "They talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk."

"In other words, they say good things, that they want this to work ... but when it comes to actually putting any positive proposals on the table, they don't," Vargo said.

Posted by Carter Wood at 5:21 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Something to Consider on Primary Day

From the Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly:

Indiana's manufacturing and logistics industries are growing, according to a report released today by Ball State University.

The first "Indiana Manufacturing & Logistics Report Card" is an initiative focused on the state's manufacturing and logistics economy. The report card shows Indiana leading its neighboring states in key measures like productivity, capital investment per worker and business costs.

The report card was created by Ball State University's Bureau of Business Research, with a team of economists and researchers led by Michael Hicks.

Overall, the report indicated that manufacturing is growing in Indiana and nationally. Last year was a record year for U.S. manufacturing in terms of industrial output, according to the report. Hoosier manufacturers lead neighboring states in capital investment per worker and industrial research and development.

The report and more are available at the Miller College of Business website.

Last February Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels discussed Indiana's economic successes in a talk at the American Enterprise Institute, highlighting trade at one point, and noting -- and not in an invidious way -- the state's differences with Michigan.

I’ve just come from this meeting they have once a year. I do get letters and e-mails and things from neighboring states that remark on this contrast, and so forth, so anyway. On the subject of trade, Susan Schwab was one of the presenters and gave a very good presentation, pointed out among other things that since NAFTA, manufacturing output in America has more than doubled. So among her messages was, whatever problems you may be experiencing don’t have anything to do with NAFTA.

But the governor of Michigan took exception to that, and in what I thought not very persuasive terms, attempted to lay the problems of her state on that. I didn’t say anything…there’s no point in that place, or any place, I guess, to have an argument about it. But there’s nothing about Michigan that doesn’t apply to Indiana, too. And yet we have made economic progress. It leads you to think that there are other things, other variables involved, like tax, and costs and regulatory policy and so forth.

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:46 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 30, 2008

Further Evidence of the Importance of Exports

The Commerce Department recently released new figures that show an increasing trend of more American jobs that depend on trade. The jobs of almost six million Americans now depend on trade and that number is growing. From 2005 to 2006 the report documents that 290,000 more jobs were linked to the export of manufactured goods. This means that in 2006, 19.9 percent of all manufacturing jobs depended on the export of manufactured goods. That's up from 18.6 percent the year before. These figures show that, aside from contributing 41 percent of our economic growth last year, more manufacturing workers' jobs depending on selling foreign goods outside of the United States.

If you need a reason to support Free Trade Agreements, we’ll give 6 million.

Posted by Keith Smith at 10:32 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 28, 2008

Foreign Investment, Some Clarity Please

An op-ed in The Asian Wall Street Journal on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, which reviews foreign acquisition of more than 10 percent of a U.S. company, generally. Joshua Trevino of the Heartland Institute's Information Technology and Telecom News reports the system is clunky and may harm the economy.

By introducing an element of unpredictability into those capital flows, CFIUS does more harm than good. And this comes at a time when the U.S. economy is slowing and needs all the help it can get.

The number of "obvious" cases ripe for rejection – Iran buying centrifuges, for instance – is exceedingly rare. Among other reasons, this is because most of America's post-Cold War state enemies are too poor to buy important U.S. assets. So CFIUS does most of its work on "marginal" cases where there might be some grounds for concern but the potential threat to security interests isn't clear.

A reformed CFIUS would restrict itself to the scrutiny of deals involving actual enemies of the U.S. – for example, states on America's list of terror sponsors. Barring that, it would subject itself to judicial appeal.

The burden is on CFIUS to prove its activities are in the interest of national security, not protectionism, Trevino writes.

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:48 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 25, 2008

USTR Issues Annual IPR Report

From the USTR, releasing its annual "301 Report" highlighting shortfalls in intellectual property protection:

There are nine (9) countries on this year’s Priority Watch List: China, Russia, Argentina, Chile, India, Israel, Pakistan, Thailand, and Venezuela. Countries on the Priority Watch List do not provide an adequate level of IPR protection or enforcement, or market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection, in absolute terms and/or relative to a range of factors such as their level of development. Priority Watch List countries will be the subject of particularly intense engagement through bilateral discussion during the coming year.

Canada has actually been a significant concern in recent years, so this is good news: "Canada has taken some significant steps in the past year and, given the importance of the outstanding issues and maturity of its economy, we look forward to additional action in the coming months on the IP reforms identified as key priorities by the Government of Canada."

Full report is here.

Posted by Carter Wood at 2:08 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Help New Orleans, Approve Colombia Trade Deal

From Investor's Business Daily, an editorial, "Free Trade For New Orleans":

At this week's Three Amigos summit in New Orleans, where Mexico, the U.S. and Canada met to discuss and defend free trade, President Bush was right to also bring forth New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

The mayor of the hurricane-hit city made an impassioned plea to Congress to pass the Colombia free trade agreement for New Orleans' sake. He knows how badly his city needs every break it can get, three years after the biggest disaster to ever hit a U.S. metropolitan area.

"New Orleans is becoming an even greater international city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina," Nagin wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last November, "and we are making every effort to capitalize on trade liberalization that will flow from these FTAs (free trade agreements). Our port system is ideally situated to take advantage of the Latin American FTAs."

IBD notes the close connections, historically and geographically, between New Orleans and Colombia: "New Orleans is situated on a direct shipping route just 1,640 miles to Cartagena and Barranquilla on Colombia's Atlantic coast."

(Hat tip: Glenn Reynolds, who observes, "Congress is unmoved because free trade produces less graft than massive aid projects. But it's funny that this hasn't gotten much attention from the press.")

Posted by Carter Wood at 11:29 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Take a Fresh Look at Export Promotion

The NAM's Frank Vargo testified yesterday at a hearing, "U.S. Export Promotion Strategy, " before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. His testimony is here. Key recommendation:

I propose for the subcommittee’s consideration that legislation be introduced to form a bipartisan Congressional-Administration-private sector commission to examine the U.S. approach to export promotion, to consider the size of the task, to propose a national export expansion goal, and to formulate recommendations for the nature and scope of an export promotion program that would be likely to achieve that export expansion goal. The commission’s report and recommendations would be for the purpose of consideration by the Congress and the next Administration. There should be representation from Congress, from key government agencies, from concerned trade associations, and representatives of large and small companies.

Other testimony:

The Honorable Israel Hernandez, Assistant Secretary for Trade Promotion and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service

James Morrison, Ph.D., Small Business Exporters Association of America.

Ms. Thea M. Lee, policy director, AFL-CIO.

Ms. Daniella Markheim, Heritage Foundation.

Posted by Carter Wood at 9:12 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 24, 2008

Oh, Yeah, Canada!

From Mary Anastasia O'Grady, writing in the Wall Street Journal's daily political e-mail, "Political Diary":

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was in New York yesterday to give a speech touting the economic achievements of the relatively new government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He stopped by the Journal offices to give a preview. Since coming to office two years ago, Mr. Flaherty told us, the Harper government has succeeded in steadily whacking down the corporate income tax to 18% from 22%, and is headed for 15% by 2012. Aiming for a total tax burden or no more than 25%, Ottawa has also been pushing the provinces to cut their own taxes on business profits. Ontario (Canada's Taxachusetts) has been a notable holdout and some in the Canadian press even accused Mr. Flaherty yesterday of leaving Ontario out of his sales pitch to U.S. investors. Mr. Flaherty joked in return that he was "gently prodding [Provincial] Premier [Dalton] McGuinty in my own subtle way to reduce business taxes."

Canada's cuts come none too soon. Business tax-cutting has been a global phenomenon, with the OECD countries now averaging less than 27%, down from 38% in 1993 (the U.S. average is 40%). It's also of a piece with the Harper government's broader pro-growth agenda, which includes free trade deals with Colombia, Peru and South Korea and work to speed up transit of goods at the Windsor-Detroit border crossing.

Posted by Carter Wood at 3:54 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 23, 2008

Blurring the Issue of Free Trade

This morning Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) had a Wall Street Journal op-ed again criticizing the benefits of NAFTA and the Colombian FTA. The NAM certainly agrees with Senator Brown that we need to “protect our national interests and our communities” and that’s exactly what the Colombian agreement does. The Senator highlights the trade deficit as evidence of free trade's failures, but omits the important fact that in markets where we have established free trade agreements, our trade balance for manufactured goods continues to improve.

Senator Brown continues to blur the issue of the merits of the Colombian agreement by injecting commentary on our trade relationship with China. The Senator goes on to list many of our trade partners: “Nafta. The Central American Free Trade Agreement. China. Now Colombia.” Could it be that the Senator isn’t aware that we don’t have a trade agreement with China? (No, certainly not.) So often we see skeptics of free trade attempt to muddy the discussion of the benefit of free trade with discussing China. Don’t get us wrong: China should be part of the trade discussion, but not in the way that the Senator asserts, and not as a rhetorical distraction to places where we can make real progress. The delays on Congressional action on the U.S.-Colombia FTA continue to burden manufacturers with a "tax" of $3.5 million every day in unnecessary Colombian tariffs. By delaying this agreement, we continue to lose our market share in the Colombian economy. Although our exports with Colombia are steadily increasing our share of the Colombian market has decreased 4.6 percent last year.

The Senator is right when he says we that we need to “focus on the merits of the [Colombian] agreement.” With full implementation of the agreement our economy stands to increase by $2.5 billion. That's a good number to focus on.

Posted by Keith Smith at 6:10 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Card Check, Colombia: Unions Running the Show

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) chatted this afternoon with a group of bloggers about the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Act and the House leadership's decision to prevent an up-and-down vote on the agreement. The Senator traveled to Colombia in March, where he found a country more peaceful than in years past, growing economically, and embracing progress.

Many of his additional points will be familiar to readers of this blog: Alvaro Uribe is an impressive leader, an ally, and a man working to protect union leaders. The opportunities for U.S. exports to Colombia are impressive. And the Colombia FTA is a great deal for the United States, since Colombia already exports to the U.S. duty free under the Andean Trade Preference Act.

Corker expressed strong sentiments about the politics that have disrupted the agreement's consideration in Congress, the unions demanding allegiance just as they did with the Employee Free Choice Act, or card check. Corker:

Let me just say bottom line, I’ve never seen anything that’s just so brazenly a genuflect, if you will, by House leadership to unions. Card check, to me, it’s hard for me to believe that people really believe in this country that card check is a good thing, where basically union leaders go out and one on one should pick people off to bring a union into existence in companies. I’ve experienced first hand some of those types of tactics. Years ago, as a young man, I was a card-carrying union member. And again, it’s hard for me to see…it’s hard for me understand the tremendous tilt that this leadership has toward the unions. But this Colombia free trade agreement is absolutely inflicting pain on the very people that are being represented.

Today, per the Andean free trade preference agreement, Colombia can ship goods into our country tariff-free, for the most part. Very few things have tariffs on them. This agreement would allow us, our employees, our companies, our workers here in America to ship goods to Colombia tariff-free.

This is solely, solely bowing to union pressure. To me it’s an embarrassment to our country. This president has been our friend; Colombia as a country has been our friend in a part of the world where we need friends, where we need people who care about democracy, who care about freedom, who care about commerce, who want to be stable contributors, if you will, to the world. He has done that, and here we are, holding him hostage, holding their country hostage, holding our workers in this country hostage to the fact that the AFL-CIO and other unions are trying to lever this to some other end. I really mean it. I have never seen anything so blatant, so blatant of nothing, if you will, of kowtowing to union officials in our country.

If the House members are allowed to vote their conscience, Corker said, he's convinced the measure would pass by a large margin, just as it would in the Senate.

The blogger conference call is available here as an .mp3 file.

Posted by Carter Wood at 5:56 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 22, 2008

From Today's Diane Rehm Show

NAM President John Engler was on a segment about NAFTA on today's Diane Rehm Show, a public radio talkshow based at WAMU here in Washington, D.C.

10:00 Free Trade
Canadian, Mexican and U.S. leaders met Monday to discuss the North American Free Trade Agreement. Both Democratic presidential hopefuls have been critical of the agreement. A look at the debate over free trade and a proposed pact with Colombia.

Guests
Jeff Faux, founding president, distinguished fellow, Economic Policy Institute

Eamon Javers, correspondent, Politico

John Engler, president, National Association of Manufacturers,
former three term governor of Michigan

There are links to the audio.

Posted by Carter Wood at 1:09 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 21, 2008

So What Newspaper is Opposed to Colombia FTA?

The U.S. Trade Representative's office is collecting editorials in support of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, most reacting to House Speaker Pelosi's decision to change the rules and sideline the deal. The headlines are informative:

Washington Post – “Colombia’s Case,” 4/19
Mississippi Press – “Changing the Rules Mid Game,” 4/18
Tri-City Herald (WA)- “Congressional ineptitude evident in trade dispute,” 4/17
San Antonio Express News – “Our turn: House rule change does major damage,” 4/17
Dallas Morning News – “Colombia pact deserves Democrats’ support,” 4/16
Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN) – “Backward Priorities,” 4/16
The Dallas Morning News – “Bragging Rights in Colombia trade pact can boose Dems’ foreign-policy profile,” 4/16
Louisville Courier-Journal – “Trade off,” 4/15
Charlotte Observer – “Trade vs. Politics,” 4/15
The Colombus Dispatch (OH) – “Bad idea,” 4/15
Wall Street Journal – “Democrats for Colombia,” 4/15
Portales News Tribune – “Democrats reaction shows deep hostility toward world trade,” 4/15
The Star Ledger (NJ) – “Pandering on Trade,” 4/15
Riverside Press Enterprise – “Trade pact pulse?” 4/14
Charleston Post Courier – “Politics trumps free trade,” 4/14
Corpus Christi Caller Times – “Congress should pass Colombia trade deal,” 4/14
Knoxville News-Sentinel – “House Democrats holding free trade hostage,” 4/14

That's not the entire list. For the whole thing, see this.

Posted by Carter Wood at 9:31 AM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

Export Promotion Hearing; NAM's Vargo to Testify

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, holds a hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday: "U.S. Export Promotion Strategy." Testifying is the NAM's Frank Vargo, Vice President for International Economic Affairs.

Timely hearing, what with it being Small Business Week and all, and since NAM President John Engler spoke last Thursday at the annual conference of the Export-Import Bank. He highlighted an NAM member company, Air Tractor Inc., of Olney, Texas, featured in the Eximbank's annual report.

Developing markets are creating a growing demand for capital goods such as agricultural and construction equipment, but U.S. exporters often face limited availability of longer-term financing for borrowers in these markets. Air Tractor Inc., in Olney, Texas, a small-business manufacturer of agricultural and forest fire-bombing airplanes, has found an invaluable tool in Ex-Im Bank’s medium-term financing to increase its exports.

In 40 transactions over the past 12 years, Air Tractor has used the Bank’s medium-term insurance to export an estimated $20 million of its aircraft, primarily to small private-sector buyers in Argentina and Brazil. Exports now account for approximately 39 percent of the company’s total sales.

Posted by Carter Wood at 9:23 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

What NAFTA Trade Deficit?

An op-ed from John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers, in today's Wall Street Journal, "What Nafta Trade Deficit?"

What the antitrade advocates have been hiding from the candidates (or maybe don't know themselves) is that almost all of the increase in our Nafta deficit since 2000 has been in increased U.S. imports of energy from Canada and Mexico. In fact, $58 billion of the $62 billion increase in our Nafta deficit has been in energy imports. That's 95% of the total increase.

We need that oil and gas, and we would rather get it from our friendly neighbors. Surely no one seeks to argue that America would be better off saying no to Mexican and Canadian oil and gas, advocating that we instead import that energy from less secure sources farther from our borders.

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:30 AM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

April 20, 2008

Colombia's Uribe to Speaker Pelosi: Please Visit

From an interview with Colombia's president, Álvaro Uribe, in today's Washington Post:

Q. What would you say to members of the House?

A. I invite them to visit Colombia -- especially Speaker Pelosi. If she comes, she will find problems and progress, but she will see our total determination to overcome these problems.

On Saturday, the Post editorialized on House leadership's blocking the U.S.-Colombia FTA, refuting the argument that Colombia is a bad actor when it comes to protecting union members. From, "Colombia's Case -- The intellectual poverty of a free-trade deal's opponents":

Colombia is, indeed, violent -- though homicide has dramatically declined under Mr. Uribe. There were 17,198 murders in 2007. Of the dead, only 39 -- or 0.226 percent -- were even members of trade unions, let alone leaders or activists, according to the Colombian labor movement. (Union members make up just under 2 percent of the Colombian population.)

This hardly suggests a campaign of anti-union terrorism in Colombia. Moreover, the number of trade unionists killed has fallen from a rate of about 200 per year before Mr. Uribe took office in 2002, despite a reported uptick in the past few months. (Arrests have already been made in three of this year's cases, according to Bogota.) And evidence is sparse that all, or even most, of the union dead were killed because of their labor organizing. As Mr. Sweeney and other critics note, precious few cases have been solved, which is hardly surprising given that Colombia's judicial system has been under attack from left-wing guerrillas, drug traffickers and right-wing death squads -- a war, we repeat, that Mr. Uribe has greatly contained. But in cases that have been prosecuted, the victims' union activity or presumed support for guerrillas has been the motive in fewer than half of the killings.

Perhaps he sees no better option politically, but the willingness of President Uribe to continue engaging Congress despite the House changing the trade rules in the middle of the game -- a life and death game for Colombians -- is the sign of wise and measured leadership.

Speaker Pelosi should accept the president's invitation.

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:37 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Exports, Construction, Manufacturing

This seems fair enough, as far as it goes.

WASHINGTON - The massive cranes slicing the skies over Brazil, Dubai and China can't come off the assembly lines fast enough at Manitowoc Co.'s manufacturing plants here and overseas.

But an insatiable global appetite doesn't mean the Wisconsin-based heavy equipment maker is boosting its payrolls.

The company last year added about 1,000 workers to bring its total to 11,000 but has no plans to repeat that hiring binge as recessionary effects play out here and abroad, said Eric Etchart, president and general manager of Manitowoc's crane segment. At best, Manitowoc may make some temporary employees permanent this year to help deplete a $2.88 billion crane backlog, up about 81 percent from 2006.

Manitowoc's growing export strength is matched by its increasing caution at home _ a position mimicked by U.S. manufacturers steeling themselves for recessionary reality.

We'd say, rather, recessionary possibilities. And don't forget increased productivity as a factor in limiting the expansion of payrolls.

The AP story also notes Friday's statement from Caterpillar on its first quarter earnings, up 18 percent.

Which reminds us of this very good speech by Robert W. Lane, chairman and CEO of Deere & Company, delivered last month in Las Vegas. Excerpt:

While we are a solid number two in the construction market in North America, we're aggressively expanding to become more of a global player in that business. We are growing our construction business in Latin America, Africa and Australia. And just a few weeks ago, we announced a joint venture with XCG Excavator Machinery Company in China — our first entry as a manufacturer into the rapidly growing construction markets in the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China. XCG is the third largest excavator producer in China, with a 14-model product line.

Thank goodness for trade.

Posted by Carter Wood at 2:55 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Maybe it Was Fidel's Responsibility

Looking for commentary on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement at Granma, the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist dictatorship, we tried an Internet archive search.

It's that "Buscar" box up in the right hand corner of the homepage.

The search functions as well as Cuba's economy, taking you to one of those placeholder websites, presumably held by a domain name squatter. In other words, Granma messed up.

Anyway, there was this article, but it's already dated:

LEADERS and social activists from a number of countries are taking part in the 7th Hemisphere-wide Conference of Struggle against Free Trade Agreements, which begins today in the Cuban capital’s International Conference Center.

UPDATE (9:45 a.m. Monday): Sopranos to premiere on Cuban TV. Seems like the parallels would be too damning, what with there being a mob family and all.

BTW, we understand the Cuban government just steals these programs for its own airing.

Posted by Carter Wood at 1:59 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 18, 2008

Some Good News on Trade

USTR Welcomes Full Reopening of Korean Market to U.S. Beef:

“I am pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with the South Korean government to reopen the Korean market to all U.S. beef and beef products, from cattle of all ages,” Ambassador Schwab said. “The import protocol is fully consistent with OIE guidelines and other international standards. I am very pleased that safe, affordable, high-quality American beef will soon be back on Korean tables. This will be a huge boost to our ranchers and producers who have waited patiently to regain the access to the South Korean beef market that was lost in December 2003.”

“With this full resumption of U.S. beef exports to South Korea, the major obstacle to Congressional consideration of the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) is removed. The Administration will now work in earnest with Congress and the U.S. agriculture, manufacturing, and services sectors to pass the KORUS FTA. Along with the Colombia and Panama FTAs, the KORUS FTA will strengthen our economy and our standing in the world. The KORUS FTA – the most commercially significant FTA we have concluded in over 15 years – will create new opportunities for U.S. workers, farmers, ranchers, businesses, and entrepreneurs across the country. It will also deepen our relations with one of our closest allies, and strengthen our vital strategic economic engagement in Asia.”

Bloomberg: "Korea to Ease U.S. Beef Curbs, Resume Imports in May."

Posted by Carter Wood at 10:06 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Visiting Colombia: Some Secret

The Washington Post's column-length smirk that goes by "In the Loop" had another keen report this morning:

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has quietly led eight congressional delegations to Colombia in the past six months to promote the great benefits of free trade and win support for the proposed trade agreement with that country.

Quietly? Quietly? The trips have been the subject of regular news releases like this one and this one, mentioned in lots of news coverage , and are, in fact, a regular Administration talking point.

Sometimes in journalese "quietly" is a way of saying, "I haven't been paying attention, but it's not my fault."

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:51 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Former Democratic Officials Back Colombia FTA

In meeting with trade reporters yesterday, NAM President John Engler mentioned the letter from former Democratic members of Congess and Democratic Administration officials who supported enactment of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

You can download a copy here as a .pdf file. It signers include many leading Democrats with foreign policy expertise, so its first argument for the argument addresses the agreement's importance in international relations.

There is an overwhelming national security imperative to approving the Colombia FTA. There is a growing animus in some parts of the hemisphere toward the U.S., but Colombia has long been a traditional friend, and Colombian President Uribe has been a strong and faithful ally of the United States. To turn our back on the Colombia FTA would be a severe blow to that relationship and would send a very negative message to our friends in a volatile region. It is no
coincidence that the leaders of Mexico, Chile, Canada, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Peru among others, have strongly supported this treaty in the name of hemispheric solidarity. Failure to act would strengthen those in the region who would argue that we leave our friends isolated and that the U.S. is disinterested in the hemisphere. Since U.S. assistance for Plan Colombia was approved in the Clinton Administration, more than $5 billion has been provided with bipartisan support that has helped Colombia to strengthen democracy, counter narco-traffickers, and greatly reduce levels of violence. The Colombia FTA must be seen as part of this commitment.

And the economic arguments are compelling, too.

Today Colombia has double-digit tariffs on paper and paper products, transportation equipment, building products and consumer goods. U.S. agricultural exports of over $1 billion all face a duty there (for example, 15 percent Colombia tariffs on U.S. apples and oranges), while 99.9 percent of Colombia’s agricultural exports to the United States were duty-free. The FTA will immediately eliminate tariffs on more than 80 percent of American exports of industrial and consumer goods, and over time, 100 percent, including information technology products, agricultural products, construction equipment, medical equipment, and electrical power generation equipment.

The agreement is good for U.S. foreign policy as a demonstration of support for an ally, good for the economy through its opening of markets for U.S. exports, and good for the U.S. manufacturing and agricultural sectors, i.e., jobs creators. Opposing the agreement means opposing all those good things.

And preventing a vote on the agreement is an attempt to evade accountability, a dodge. How's that tactic working so far?

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:28 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 17, 2008

Engler: Optimistic About Colombia FTA

National Association of Manufacturers' President John Engler sat down over lunch with a cete of trade reporters today to talk about the Colombia FTA, NAFTA, Doha and the politics of trade. The meeting coincided with an NAM release in which Gov. Engler called for quick consideration of the agreement in Congress.

Good discussion, albeit one that focused on process and politics more than the merits of the U.S. Colombia Free-Trade Agreement. But then, the case for the Colombia FTA is pretty clear cut, and Speaker Pelosi's changing the rules in the middle of the game is the current issue. And in Washington, process and politics are often inseparable.

In the end, Gov. Engler thinks the merits and politics combine to win passage of the Colombia trade deal.

I actually believe we’re going to get the Colombian agreement. Put me down in the optimist camp, here. The reaction to the House has been so uniformly negative.
Every editorial I’ve seen across the country…it doesn’t make any difference as far as from the right or the left, anywhere along the spectrum, everybody’s been is unanimous.

I say unanimous, because I’m at this point aware of anybody who’s gone the other direction. There may be somebody, but the editorials I’ve seen – so you’ve got that factor.

Also, I think the 36 or so Democrat senators and former Administration officials, that group that spoke out (is) very, very important for trying to reestablish some type of a center that can hold on trade issues, because we’ve got to get back to a bipartisanship on these trade issues.

The Wall Street Journal took note of that Democratic officials' letter (actually 35 signators) in an editorial yesterday in "Democrats for Colombia."

A .mp3 sound-file of this particular part of today's discussion is available here. The boss goes on to talk about Ways & Mean Chairman Rangel's political stake in the issue -- the chairman had negotiated the inclusion of new environmental and labor standards -- and the possibility that the Speaker's maneuver was undermining a future Democratic president's ability to negotiate on trade.

A transcript of this portion of the discussion is posted in the extended entry below.

NAM President John Engler:

I actually believe we’re going to get the Colombian agreement. Put me down in the optimist camp, here. The reaction to the House has been so uniformly negative. Every editorial I’ve seen across the country…it doesn’t make any difference as far as from the right or the left, anywhere along the spectrum, everybody’s been is unanimous.

I say unanimous, because I’m at this point aware of anybody who’s gone the other direction. There may be somebody, but the editorials I’ve seen – so you’ve got that factor.

Also, I think the 36 or so Democrat senators, and former Administration officials, that group that spoke out (is) very, very important for trying to reestablish some type of a center that can hold on trade issues, because we’ve got to get back to a bipartisanship on these trade issues.

We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary in May of the rewriting of the Colombia deal. It’s been signed for almost two, now, but we’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of when Chairman Rangel made the deal, and that’s been all done. So I think the dynamics are that Chairman Rangel’s word is on the line, and while he can defer to the Speaker for a while, I don’t think that deference can be sustained without doing great harm to his credibility at a point.

I think the senior Democrats out of the Congress recognize the perilous path we’re on, and I think there’s an argument that should be made, and that’s fine if it’s made kind of quietly. But there’s a lot of confidence on the part of the majority that they’re going to win the presidency. And whether that’s misplaced or not, they should want to have that president be in a position to be able to negotiate trade deals somewhere in the world, even to go negotiate the perfect trade deals, which is what they’re calling for us to negotiate. But without any authority you’re going to take office in ’09, and the cupboard’s going to be pretty empty. It’s going to be pretty hard to find a trade negotiator at that point. There’s nothing really to negotiate.

Posted by Carter Wood at 6:02 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 16, 2008

While America Pauses, Times Out and Dozes

Asean, Japan complete free-trade agreement

EU, South Korea to discuss free trade agreement

Egypt and India closer to a free trade agreement

China, Chile sign supplementary free-trade agreement on services

FTA with China celebrated in New Zealand Parliament

Million Dollar China Deal 48 Hours After FTA

Posted by Carter Wood at 11:21 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 14, 2008

Lonely Planet Trade Policy?

From Times Online: "Lonely Planet writer, Thomas Kohnstamm, claims he fabricated guidebook":

“They didn’t pay me enough to go to Colombia,” he said. "I wrote the book in San Francisco. I got the information from a chick I was dating – an intern in the Colombian Consulate.”

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:18 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 13, 2008

Colombia FTA: How the Colombians See It

To the readers of Colombia's largest daily circulation newspaper, El Tiempo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is "la Doctura No" -- Dr. No.

At least that was the headline on a Sunday report from the newspaper's Washington correspondent, Sergio Gomez Maseri. As far as we can make out, it's not a negative piece, but rather one that attempts to explain to a Colombian audience the authority of the Speaker of the House and just who Nancy Pelosi is: "The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is the most powerful woman in the country."

But it also does a good job of explaining how Colombia's public sees her decision to block consideration of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement:

A telephone call came Wednesday afternoon to Colombian Ambassador Carolina Barco in Washington. On the other end of the line was Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful woman in the country in her role as Speaker of the House. “I hope you don’t take this personally. This is a problem about power,” she told Barco before publicly announcing the freezing of the FTA between Colombia and the United States. For a vast majority of Colombians, especially those who have been part of the close relations between these two countries, it was much more than an announcement. Pelosi, in a single stroke, had stopped the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia.

Although Barco and the minister of trade, Luis Guillermo Plata, and others rushed to say that the agreement was not dead, in reality it is far more than just damaged. It depends, according to Pelosi, on President Bush committing to a series of costly economic initiatives to which he has so far given a resounding no.

This is the story in Spanish and a very rough English translation, via Google. (Warning: Includes a vulgarity for "messing things up.")

Posted by Carter Wood at 7:35 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 12, 2008

Making Trade Work Today

A letter in today's Washington Post:

The April 9 Business article "Don't Blame NAFTA for Downturn, Many Economists Say" quoted politicians, economists and labor representatives but not a single manufacturer -- those at the heart of this wrenching debate.

Nearly half of North American manufacturers believe the North American Free Trade Agreement has helped their overall business performance, and 41 percent say it had no impact on their companies, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Manufacturers and Deloitte.

As lawmakers and presidential candidates address future trade deals and the economic concerns of America's working families, let's remember that competitive companies engaged in trade create more jobs and pay higher wages than those sitting on the sidelines.

EMILY DeROCCO
President
Manufacturing Institute
Washington

Posted by Carter Wood at 12:09 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 11, 2008

Vodcast: Secretary Gutierrez on Colombia, Taxes

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez spoke at the National Association of Manufacturers recently on taxes and employment, as well as the importance of expanding trade to keep the economy humming.

Beforehand, the Secretary stopped by the "America's Business with Mike Hambrick" studio to make the case for tax incentives and the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, an interview we highlight in this week's video podcast.

"We should not put politics in front of sending a message to an ally," Secretary Gutierrez said of the Colombia trade deal. "If we don’t approve this, our allies and friends will be very confused. And people who don’t like us will be very happy."

For more on this week's program and to watch the video in a larger format, please visit www.AmericasBusiness.org

Posted by Carter Wood at 3:21 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Reaction from Hugo Chavez

Hugo Chavez continues his attack on democracy and capitalism.

The largest steel mill in Venezuela, Ternium-Sidor is to be nationalized, according to a presidential decision made following yet another strike closure.

Ternium-Sidor, which is sixty percent owned by Argentineans was not able to reach an agreement with unions on wages. When the work force went out on strike President Hugo Chavez ordered its nationalization.

The move was in the works before yesterday's ignoble vote in the House to block the U.S-Colombia Free Trade Agreement -- earlier this week, foreign-owned cement companies were nationalized -- but Chavez must be even more emboldened. If you abandon your allies, why should your foes fear you?

(More on Chavez's attack on the private sector in The Economist.)

Posted by Carter Wood at 1:59 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

More Reaction from Colombia, Etc.

From Bloomberg:

``Not having a trade agreement is almost like having trade sanctions imposed in the sense that you've been downgraded, or are at least now one level below the other comparable economies in the continent'' that do have trade deals, such as Mexico, Chile, Peru and Central America, Trade Minister Luis Guillermo Plata said in an interview.

Tough Miami Herald editorial concludes:

Latin America is following this issue intently. Spurning Colombia undermines an ally in a dangerous part of the world and hands Venezuela's Hugo Chávez a victory. It sends a message that the United States doesn't know who its friends are -- or doesn't value them.

And Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit shares the perception that we do about labor's role in opposing the measure: "[The] unions decided that they had to show their ability to stop something, and chose this. Merits don't matter when it's all about demonstrating clout."

Posted by Carter Wood at 11:45 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Accountability on FISA, Colombia

The handling of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement seems strikingly similar to the handling of the legislation to update federal surveillance authority over international communications, the FISA amendments. Faced with legislation that would pass on its merits with bipartisan support -- the Senate-approved S. 2248 -- House leadership refused to allow a vote on the bill and instead passed a measure that only confuses the debate and stands no chance of enactment -- H.R. 3773.

Legislation to enact the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, H.R. 5724, stood a good chance of passing the House with bipartisan support on its merits. So instead we get H. Res. 1092, changing the rules to avoid that up-and-down vote.

Posted by Carter Wood at 9:53 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

A Reaction from the White House

President Bush's reaction to the House abdication on its responsibilities on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement is unusually tough. It's worth reading in its entirety.

Today's unprecedented and unfortunate action by the House of Representatives - led by Speaker Pelosi - to change the rules governing legislation to implement our trade agreement with Colombia is damaging to our economy, our national security, and our relations with an important ally. It also undermines the trust required for any Administration to negotiate trade agreements in the future.

By lowering tariffs for products made in America and sold in Colombia, this trade agreement would level the playing field for American workers and provide a boost for our economy at a vital time. Rather than supporting the opening of markets for our farmers and manufacturers, Democratic congressional leaders instead listened to narrow special interests and followed an isolationist path.

Today's action by the House of Representatives also sends a damaging message to the world that Congress cannot be counted on to keep its promises. Colombia is one of our strongest allies in the Western Hemisphere. Colombia's leaders are showing courage in improving the safety of their citizens while battling narco-terrorists that receive support from anti-American forces outside Colombia. The message Democrats sent today is that no matter how steadfastly you stand with us, we will turn our backs on you when it is politically convenient.

In addition, by changing the rules for how it considers legislation to implement trade agreements, the House has severed a bond of trust between the executive branch and the Congress, and with our trading partners, that has served our Nation well for decades. In order to negotiate trade agreements, we empower our trade representatives with the promise that Congress will consider trade agreements with a timely up-or-down vote. By breaking this bond, Democrats have undercut not just this Administration, but future Administrations as well. This will weaken our Nation's ability to negotiate fair trade agreements for American workers, farmers, ranchers, and service providers.

During the 16 months since the Colombia free trade agreement was signed, my Administration has gone above and beyond any reasonable effort to achieve a bipartisan path for considering this agreement. At the expense of our economy and our national security, the House has instead chosen to take a short-sighted and partisan path.

Posted by Carter Wood at 9:27 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

A Reaction from Colombia

From "Hoy," the Bogota tabloid:

Crushing
defeat of
trade pact in U.S.
Three years of bidding,
invitations and pleas
prove useless

(TLC stands for Tratado de Libre Comercio, i.e., treaty of free trade.)

Full front page here , from the Newseum, which opens today.

UPDATE (9:50 a.m.): To be fair, not all the coverage in Colombia is that despairing. Portafolio, the financial newspaper, declares in its lead story, "Despite the setback, all is not lost."

Posted by Carter Wood at 9:17 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 10, 2008

House: 224-195 to Dodge Colombia Vote

A resolution changing the rules to postpone consideration of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement has just passed, 224-195, causing damage to the United States' reliability as a negotiator and trade partner.

UPDATE (2:03 p.m.): The roll call tally. Six Republicans voted aye, 10 Democrats voted nay.

UPDATE (1:55 p.m.): Statement by Ambassador Susan Schwab, U.S. Trade Representative:

“The U.S. - Colombia Free Trade Agreement would have brought fairness to U.S. workers by finally leveling the playing field for our exports to Colombia. Colombia’s exports to our market already enter duty-free, and the Colombia FTA would have opened their market to the products of American workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs.

“When Congress enacted Trade Promotion Authority in 2002, it chose to enact rules that the United States and the other sovereign nations we negotiated trade agreements with followed. Now, the House is choosing to not honor those rules by changing them – in the middle of the game. The action by the House will have profoundly negative consequences for our workers, our relationship with Colombia, and the credibility of the United States. This is a sad day for the United States of America as the reckless decision by the Democratic House Leadership dismantles over thirty years of bipartisan trade policy precedent.

“The Administration held extensive consultations with Congress before negotiations on the Colombia free trade agreement began, during negotiations, and after the agreement was signed in November 2006. The Administration worked with Colombia, at Congress’ request, to add new strengthened environmental and labor provisions – as negotiated with the Democratic Leadership - into the core text of the agreement. Since September of last year, the Administration has held over 400 consultations with Members of Congress and led 8 Congressional trips to Colombia with 55 members of the House and Senate. The Administration has repeatedly reached out to the Congress to engage in discussions so that we could move the Colombia agreement forward to a successful bipartisan vote. Congress has yet to act.

“I believe that opening overseas markets and leveling the playing field for our workers and families – and honoring the rules that we all play by – is the right thing to do, the smart thing to do, and simply makes sense.

“The administration has gone above and beyond its statutory commitment under Trade Promotion Authority. Frankly, we have bent over backwards – time and time again – only to see the goalposts move further and further away. Changing the rules now only makes losers of American workers, farmers, and service providers.”

Posted by Carter Wood at 1:48 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

NAM Key Vote Letter on U.S.-Colombia Free Trade

The National Association of Manufacturers today sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives opposing any votes to delay action on enacting the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement:

On behalf of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the nation’s largest industrial trade association representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states, I urge you to oppose any effort to delay the prompt consideration of and timely vote on H.R. 5724, the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act.

The NAM is extremely concerned that removing the 90-day timetable for action on the agreement will not only prevent timely and fair consideration of the U.S.-Colombia agreement, but will also fundamentally undermine the effectiveness of the Fast Track/Trade Promotion Authority process. If this process is undermined in such a manner, the ability of the United States to enter or complete trade agreements with other countries will be severely compromised, both now and in the future.

Furthermore, at this time of great instability in world financial markets, this is not time to raise uncertainty about America's commitment to open trade. Currently, U.S. manufactured goods entering Colombia face an average tariff of 14 percent, at a cost of $80 million a month on existing sales to Colombia. At the same time, virtually no Colombian goods face any barriers in the United States. Passage of this agreement is vital to our economy and the future growth of American manufacturing.

Key votes are used by the NAM to rate a member's overall record on support for the manufacturing economy.

Posted by Carter Wood at 11:12 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Colombia FTA Resources, Links

From the White House, press briefing transcript on U.S-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, featuring Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer teleconference with reporters, transcript.

Statement from House Minority Leader John Boehner.

National Association of Corn Growers, news release: ""The Colombia free trade agreement should be considered and voted upon this year, and not sidelined due to procedural maneuvering," said NCGA President Ron Litterer. "This agreement is good for U.S. agriculture and corn growers. Let's have the agreement in front of Congress fair and square -- on its own merits."

International Dairy Foods Association news release: From IDFA President and CEO Connie Tipton, "Playing political games and changing the rules in midstream will only hinder our country's ability to broker fair and effective trade agreements with international partners in the future."

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association news release, featuring statement by NCBA President Andy Groseta, a rancher from Cottonwood, Ariz. "Frankly, I don't understand why Congress was so willing to assist producers of Colombian goods by extending the Andean Trade Preferences, but won't stand up and be counted when they have a chance to help our own farmers and ranchers."

Consumer Electronics Association news release, quoting a letter to Congress from President and CEO Gary Shapiro: "As we fight for the hearts and minds of the Colombian people, it seems unhelpful to use a procedural vote to delay consideration of an important trade agreement. We urge you to reject efforts to delay consideration of the Colombian Free Trade Agreement and to support its passage.”

Posted by Carter Wood at 11:08 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Are the Days of Cheap Chinese Imports Ending?

Some American manufacturers have long complained about competition from cheap imports from China.

But a Slate article says that era may be ending. China is raising the price of exports due to several factors, including higher energy costs (have you checked out the prices at the pump lately?) and rising wages.

So Americans used to bargain deals at Wal-Mart may be in for a surprise. American importers are now looking to other countries to replace China as the place to go to get lower prices, the article said.

"So importers are looking back to countries they once rejected in favor of China—Indonesia, Mexico, and Malaysia. And they are looking ahead to countries not yet integrated into the global consumer-goods supply chain, such as Brazil and Kenya. Every country, however, offers its own special risks: strong labor unions in one, political instability in another. None offers the one-stop shop appeal of China, where factories make everything under the sun."

Posted by Greg Wright at 8:36 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Colombia, Balancing the Scales

The House Committee on Ways & Means' report on H.R. 5264, the Andean Trade Preference Act, provides a good, brief history of the original ATPA (P.L. 102-182) passed in 1991, a law which granted preferential trade benefits to Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru in the form of duty-free treatment of eligible products coming into the United States. The program was expanded by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (P. L. 107-210) on August 6, 2002 -- giving another 700 products access to the U.S market.

Congress approved the latest extension of trade preferences, reaffirming Colombia's ability to send its products to the United States without U.S. tariffs, by a voice vote in the House (February 27th) and unanimous consent in the Senate (February 28th).

So those who would delay a vote on the U.S-Colombia Free Trade Act are arguing, in essence, that it's politically non-controversial to open even wider the U.S. market to Colombia's exports, but a disaster to lower Colombia's barriers to U.S. exports. Strains credulity, that argument.

From the additional (Republican) views section of the Ways & Means report:

[When] the United States went from providing one-way access to imports from Central American countries to a bilateral FTA in the CAFTA, our $1.3 billion trade deficit with those countries has changed to a trade surplus of $3.7 billion.

Congress has the opportunity to replicate that CAFTA success by passing the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. The Democrat Leadership's refusal to act so far on this Agreement means that the U.S.-Colombia trade relationship is one-sided to Colombia's benefit. More than 99 percent of total Colombian exports to the United States are already duty-free (measured by tariff line) because of the preferences. By contrast only 2.7 percent of U.S. exports to Colombia are currently duty-free. More than 89 percent of Colombian agriculture exports to the United States are already duty-free (measured by tariff line) because of the preferences. No U.S. agriculture exports to Colombia receive duty-free treatment today. The average U.S. tariff paid by imports from Colombia in 2006 was only 0.1 percent because of the preferential access to the U.S. market. In contrast, the average tariff paid by U.S. exports to Colombia was 11.2 percent. The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement will reduce the average tariff faced by U.S. exporters by more than 68 percent, from an 11.2 percent average duty to 3.6 percent immediately upon implementation of the Agreement.

Our emphasis. As if we needed to emphasize the facts. It's widely understood on Capitol Hill that the economic benefits of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement will accrue to U.S. businesses and employees. It's the political benefits that appear to be at debate.

Posted by Carter Wood at 8:29 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

April 9, 2008

Colombia's Vice President: It Would be a Slap

From La Republica.com.co, quoting Vice President Francisco Santos: "Si el acuerdo fracasa, sería una cachetada para nosotros. Eso no podría no tener consecuencias en nuestras relaciones."

Translation: "If the agreement fails, it would be a slap across our face. There's no way it wouldn't have an effect on our relations."

UPDATE (5 p.m.) Bloomberg updated story, including NAM comment: ``If you stop it for Colombia, you can stop it for any agreement,'' said Doug Goudie, a lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers, a pro-trade business group. ``That isn't exactly going to inspire confidence in any future possible trade partners, or in the WTO negotiations.''

Meanwhile, the U.S. Trade Representative has distributed a fact sheet that refutes the contention Congress has not been consulted ....See the extended entry below.

55: The Administration led Congressional delegations to Colombia for 55 Members of Congress so they could see the country's progress first-hand.

144: Administration officials have delivered remarks educating the public about the benefits of free trade to U.S. workers in at least 144 cities throughout the United States.

444: Since August 2007, cabinet and sub-cabinet officials have held at least 444 free trade agreement-related meetings or phone calls with Members of Congress including:

265: At least 265 meetings with Democrats.
179: At least 179 meetings with Republicans.
27: At least 27 meetings or calls with Democratic Congressional leadership.

160: USTR consulted with Congress 160 times in the run-up to and during negotiations as required by Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).

Posted by Carter Wood at 4:05 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Cabinent Secretaries on Colombia FTA

Responding to House Speaker Pelosi's stated intention of vitiating the timeline for acting on the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, seven Cabinet secretaries appeared at a news conference this afternoon. Early reports...

Thomson:

'There is perhaps no more important free trade agreement in recent memory,' Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters at the White House.

Failure to approve the agreement would do 'very serious harm' to relations with Colombia, which she called 'a country that is absolutely clear about its friendship with America.'

Bloomberg:

Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the nation's influence in the region and the economy will be harmed if the Congress takes the unprecedented act of rejecting the accord completed 16 months ago.

``There's perhaps no more important free-trade agreement in recent memory,'' Rice said at a White House briefing that included other members of President George W. Bush's Cabinet who sought to put pressure on lawmakers to ratify the accord.

Paulson said the agreement will make a ``big difference'' economically for both the U.S. and Colombia by maintaining the flow of trade between the two countries and shoring up U.S. credibility with other trading partners.

Posted by Carter Wood at 3:24 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Senator Baucus on House Colombia Move

The cable news outlets gave short shrift to the Cabinet secretaries' news conference, so for the moment...

From CQ Politics, quoting Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT):

This decision by the House on the Colombia trade agreement is not at all surprising, given the president’s unprecedented effort to force Congress into a vote...Congress and the White House are going to need to take a step back from the brink, focus on renewing an agreement on Trade Adjustment Assistance for American workers, and then consider the Colombia deal on its merits.

A comment that suggests maneuvering on TAA, as presaged in this Christian Science Monitor piece from the morning:

[In] the back halls of Congress, the real debate is, and should be, over how much to help workers who lose jobs after government lifts trade protection in certain US industries. The current program, known as Trade Adjustment Assistance, is underfunded and not well focused to keep up with the rapid shift to a higher-skilled economy. More money is needed to retrain such workers for new types of jobs. Congress also must provide a higher tax credit for healthcare coverage during these workers' transitions.

Theory: The demands for environmental and labor provisions used to serve as the same sort of bargaining chip. Once the Administration gave those concessions, something new had to be invented to serve as a similar lever to gain advantage in TAA bargaining. It's timelines, now.

Posted by Carter Wood at 2:38 PM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Sharp Poke in the Eye of ALL Trade Negotiations

From Bloomberg:

April 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, defying President George W. Bush's demand that Congress endorse a free-trade agreement with Colombia, said lawmakers will vote tomorrow to eliminate a deadline for taking action.

Bush this week sent Congress the trade accord, triggering a 90-day deadline for lawmakers to take a final vote on the agreement.

``The president took his action,'' Pelosi said after a meeting of all House Democrats. ``I will take mine tomorrow.''

If this goes through, why would any other country work with the United States on trade agreements? It would make a mockery of the phrase, "good-faith negotiations."

The White House has scheduled a news conference with Cabinet members at 2:15 p.m. to talk about this move. We truly hope it's just a bargaining maneuver.

UPDATE (1:30 p.m.): Here's Speaker Pelosi's statement on the timetable. The Speaker argues: "It’s not really a rule change; it’s sort of in keeping with the rules of the House."

UPDATE (1:35 p.m.) At the WH news conference:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson
United States Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab
Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson, Jr.
Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez
Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao
Small Business Administrator Steve Preston

Serious.

Posted by Carter Wood at 1:22 PM | 1 comment; click here to read it or submit your own! | Send to a Friend

Clinton (Bill) Supports Colombia FTA

Si, es verdad. In a 2005 trip to Bogota, former President Bill Clinton responded affirmatively to President Alvaro Uribe's plea for his support for the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. According to news accounts at the time, Clinton said, "Estoy a favor del TLC y tengo la esperanza de que vamos a encontrar la fórmula para que se logre el acuerdo.”

Which is, "I am in favor of the free trade agreement and it is my hope that we will find the right formula to reach the agreement."

And that was before the environmental and labor protections were added.

From Politico, Ben Smith's Blog. More at "Hot Air." And for a taste of the poisonous waters of the anti-globalist left, read this piece from The Huffington Post, "Bill Clinton's Ties to Colombia Trade Deal Stronger than Even Penn's."

And that's a criticism. Alas.

President Clinton's support for trade agreements counted as one of his political strengths, an example of standing on principle in support of more trade, more wealth, more freedom.

UPDATE (5:05 p.m.): Larry Kudlow notes that Mark Penn was sent down and asks, "With that thought in mind, can’t we all agree that Bill Clinton should immediately resign from Hillary’s campaign? Or at least be demoted?"

Posted by Carter Wood at 10:05 AM | Click here to comment | Send to a Friend

Colombia and Caterpillar

In their drive to defeat the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, the labor unions are sticking it to their members who work for companies that export. Take Caterpillar, for example, as the Wall Street Journal does today:

Union leaders like to say they're looking out for the well-being of the rank and file. But by quashing the Colombia FTA, [the AFL-CIO's] Mr. Sweeney would weaken the competitiveness of American manufacturing and put some of America's best-paying union jobs at risk. These are jobs that exist today but could well be gone if Congress rejects this market opening in South America.