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Despite Congressional Deal, ‘Our Trade Policy Will Not Be Fixed Overnight’ |
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The agreement announced yesterday between congressional Democrats and the White House on trade policy made “substantial progress” in improving workers’ rights and environmental standards in the Peru and Panama free trade pacts, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says.
But the labor federation is reserving final judgment on these two agreements until it reviews them more fully. And the agreement does not pave the way for other flawed trade agreements or renewal of Fast Track trade-promotion authority, he said today.
In a statement, Sweeney says:
…our trade policy will not be fixed overnight. The Bush administration’s consistent unwillingness to enforce trade violations against nations like Jordan and China reminds us there is no guarantee the executive branch will enforce any new rights workers may gain through these negotiations. And President Bush has negotiated a flawed agreement with gross human rights violator Colombia and a losing, one-sided agreement with South Korea.
We agree with Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi (D-Calif.) and [House Ways and Means] Chairman [Charles] Rangel (D-N.Y.) that the progress on workers’ rights and the environment does not clear the way for other flawed agreements, and we will vigorously oppose the Colombia and South Korea agreements and renewal of Fast Track.
Sweeney also says the federation is still concerned that the agreement “fails to adequately address issues related to the outsourcing of U.S. jobs and the ability of foreign corporations to challenge U.S. laws, among others.”
Rangel said the agreement “clears the path” for congressional consideration of the deals with Panama and Peru, although he did not say when hearings would begin. The U.S. Trade Representative must first approach Peru and Panama and obtain their consent to each of these changes before either agreement may be taken up by Congress.
One of the key provisions of the deal, according to Rangel, is an enforceable commitment that our trading partners will adopt, maintain and enforce in their laws and practice the five basic international labor standards—freedom of association, right to collective bargaining, elimination of forced labor, abolition of child labor and elimination of discrimination. Another is an enforceable commitment prohibiting free-trade-agreement countries from lowering their labor or environmental standards.
On March 6, the AFL-CIO Executive Council adopted a statement that calls on Congress to institute new reforms on trade that stop our jobs from being exported and put our workers and the companies they work for on a level playing field.
The council statement outlines the principles that should be embodied in all U.S. trade policies:
- Enforceable International Labor Organization core labor standards in every trade agreement, so no government or corporation can gain a comparative advantage by violating workers’ human rights.
- Reform of the environment, investment, government procurement, intellectual property rights, and services provisions in trade agreements.
- U.S. negotiators must not put our trade laws on the chopping block, nor should they make irreversible commitments with respect to immigration policy.
- More transparency and much broader public participation is needed in the negotiation of trade rules, at both the national and international levels. Business is not the only constituency affected by trade, and it should not be the only nongovernment group at the table when these deals are cut.
These principles will continue to guide the AFL-CIO’s trade policies, Sweeney said:
Our trade policy has been broken for decades. Living standards have been depressed. Families have been squeezed. Our trade deals have cost millions of jobs and encouraged exploitation of workers and the environment.
One standard will guide the AFL-CIO: U.S. trade policy must serve the interests of America’s working families and workers around the globe.
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We will simply see more outsourcing as a result of such agreements. Also, it is doubtful that the enforcement of even the minimal standards included in such agreements will occur. I had expected more from the Democratic Party.
The AFL-CIO should stand firm on its trade positions and pressure Democrats to follow through on their pre-election campaign pledges. If their commitment to working families falls short, perhaps that 3rd party people have been talking about, is one positioned to the left of the Democrats.
Presidential candidate John Kerry called companies that lay off its domestic workforce so that they can invest in China or outsource its workforce to India as the “Benedict Arnold”. I will like to press further that any politician who tries to sell out the American workforce to the lowest bidder in the world through trade deals is committing nothing less than acts of treason! It is time that we elect politicians who are PROTECTING us by saving our way of life, our standard of living, and our cultural values. How can America continue to be strong and be the beacon of hope throughout the world when there is no jobs available in the land of the Free?
John Kerry should know about Bennedict Arnold’s, since he is viewed by the majority of the military, as one.
It isn’t just the cheap labor that has corporations moving out of country. USA workers continue to get the axe and the shaft because of tax incentives for corporations as well. Congress and the President have to stop allowing the Value Added Tax (VAT) from destroying efforts to have a neutral marketing playing field.
Most of American haven’t even heard about VAT and even fewer understand how VAT works. Let me explain what happens in the world market place.
Foreign governments tax corporations, but if the company exports its products to the U.S. (or other countries), the foreign government rebates (forgives) the tax. That creates an irresistible magnet to attract U.S. companies to transfer their plants to a land where they can avoid most of both countries’ taxes.
This racket should be prohibited because it is a huge subsidy, but world trade agreements have peculiarly defined subsidy to exclude tax rebates to exporters by calling it a rebate of the Value Added Tax (VAT). They get by with this subterfuge because that term is not understood by most Americans.
It’s no wonder that DaimlerChrysler will soon start building cars in China to ship back and sell in the U.S. under Chrysler names.This means that 11,000 manufacturing jobs and 2,000 white-collar jobs will be eliminated over the next 24 months.
The combination of avoiding U.S. corporate taxes and having Chinese taxes rebated (forgiven) will help DaimlerChrysler to sell new cars in the United States much cheaper than any it can manufacture in Detroit.
As if that weren’t bad enough the VAT also hurts US goods from being sold compeditively in the world market. Let me continue to explain.
One of the many ways the United States is different from nearly all other countries is our system of taxation. The U.S. imposes taxes on our income (we pay taxes on what we earn), whereas 157 other countries impose taxes on consumption (they pay taxes on what they buy) and call that tax a VAT.
When a U.S. product, such as an automobile, arrives at another country’s port, the foreign government slaps on a VAT import tax that is a percentage of the price of the U.S. product, the transportation cost to get it to the foreign country, and the tariff that the foreign country charges.
While the countries claim to have reduced tarrifs on goods they have simply replaced the lower tarrifs with higher VAT percentages. Here is an example of how this has worked.
In 1968, the average tariff rate collected by European Union countries was 10.4%, and the average VAT rate was 13.44%, making a trade barrier against U.S. goods of 23.84%. In 2006, the average tariff rate declined to 4.4%, but the average VAT rate climbed to 19.36%, making the trade barrier against U.S. products 23.76%.
The result is that most foreign countries still have de facto tariffs against us that are as high or higher than their tariffs were 40 years ago.
Now if a 40 plus year Union member timber worker can figure this out why haven’t our legislators. Here is some more on US economics.
After reading some of Nancy Pelosi’s comments on how the tax system and US economics needs to change i believe she needs to get someone on her staff that actually understands economics and have them explain it to her because her ideas are disaterous for the American workers.
Here is another fact brought on by the current illegal alien reform bill. Does anyone believe that the government is going to actually stop the illegal aliens from crossing into the US. I sure don’t and I would say any bill that doesn’t do that first should never be passed. Prove that the borders are sealed and then work on the illegals that are here. Show me the results and in 3 or 4 years then have another part of the bill kick in but not until the borders are sealed should the American people have to do anything for those that are already here. When 25 percent of the criminals are in jail in the Southwest are illegal aliens I don’t want to hear any more about them coming here to improve their lives. Stealing, selling drugs, beating, killing others may be a way to improve their lives but I don’t want them coming here to do it.
Organized Labor needs to find someone besides Ted Kennedy to work to improve our standing because he hasn’t shown me he is working for America Union workers. I will vote against anyone that votes for this 800 page destruction of American Workers Rights. When are we going to get a Union Worker party?
These liberal arts majors and the preservationist community aren’t going to help return good jobs and manufacturing to the US. If the current crop of Democrats and Republican Presidential candidates are the best this country has to offer I would recommend that everyone start learning Chinese or Aribic because those nations will be running our country in a very few years.