Government
Florida Repubs Turn Up Heat on Obama over Free Trade
Around the State
Connie Mack and Vern BuchananTwo members of the Republican congressional majority from Florida turned up the heat on President Barack Obama to get serious about three free-trade agreements currently stalled in Washington.
From his perspective as chairman of the U.S. House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, Florida Republican Connie Mack went to bat for the free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.
Mack noted that U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk indicated on Monday that Colombia had met all labor rights' requirements and called for the Obama administration to get serious in pushing the agreements.
“Now that President Santos and Colombia have successfully met the milestones in the action plan, it is vital that President Obama sends forward the Colombia, Panama, and South Korea free-trade agreements to Congress,” said Mack. “Despite claims they are ‘moving ahead’ with the agreements, Congress has only gotten lip service from the president. Combined with side-stepping visits to our allies in Latin America on his recent travels to Latin America, President Obama’s delaying tactics regarding the FTA's are hurting our economy while simply making a bad situation worse with our allies in the region.”
Another Florida Republican -- U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan -- entered the fray on Friday, urging the passage of the agreements. Buchanan, Florida’s only member of the Ways and Means Committee, said that the committee was poised to move on the agreements, perhaps as early as next week.
"Passage of these long-stalled FTA's would be a major win for Florida," said Buchanan, who sits on the Trade subcommittee of Ways and Means and serves as the chairman of the Panama Caucus. "Creating jobs and growing the economy are the most important issues facing us today. If we expand our exports, it will help Florida's economy as we send our goods, services and products to people around the world. In turn, this will help generate new jobs right here in our backyard."
Buchanan expressed hope that Congress could get started on the three agreements before the end of June. "Consideration of all three trade agreements is imperative if we're serious about competing in the global marketplace," said Buchanan. "We've waited long enough. The time to act is now."
A study from the U.S. International Trade Commission found that the three agreements could lead to an increased $13 billion in exports and around 250,000 new jobs in the U.S.
Buchanan and his allies note that, with Florida’s location, the Sunshine State’s 14 seaports -- which already generate $65 billion for the state -- could profit. Port Manatee, which is in Buchanan’s district, is the closest American eastern port to the Panama Canal. The canal is being expanded to accommodate larger vessels from Asian countries.
"Florida faces a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform its economy by becoming a global hub for trade, logistics, service and export-oriented manufacturing activities," insisted Mark Wilson, the president and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. "The passage of the free-trade agreements will enhance our relationship and create new trade and job opportunities for the people of Florida."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859
Comments (2)
• The Korea FTA is projected to create 70,000 new jobs for the U.S. but 335,000 jobs will be created in South Korea over the next 10 years.
• Under KORUS FTA's country of origin rules, such rules permit projects started from Korea with a minimum 35 percent Korean content to be considered as having originated in Korea for U.S. tariff purposes.
• The free-trade pact makes no mention of a ban on North Korean goods. In fact, its rules of origin appear to allow North Korean goods to be incorporated into South Korean products and given duty-free treatment under the agreement.
• The current draft agreement also has a mechanism to declare goods 100% made in Kaesong as goods of South Korean origin, fully eligible for free access to the U.S. market. In the Kaesong Industrial Park just six miles north of the demilitarized zone that separates North from South Korea, factories run by South Korean industrial giants employ 40,000 North Koreans. These Kaesong workers share virtually none of the rights workers south of the DMZ enjoy. Working conditions have been criticized in the U.S. State Department's annual report on human rights. Some critics of the pact refer to the facility as little more than a slave labor camp.
• The U.S. trade deficit in cattle is projected to worsen in the Korea FTA is implemented and Korea may be able to import cattle from China and ship that beef to the U.S. under the preferential tariff terms of the deal. Do we really want China to be able to dominate beef in the same way it does for our manufacturing sector now?
• Korea is one of only three countries that our government has labeled a currency manipulator. The Korea FTA has no provisions to counter cheating such as currency devaluations which would totally eliminate the purported tariff cut benefits and make our exports more expensive to Koreans than they are now.
• The U.S. International Trade Commission projects the Korea FTA would increase the overall U.S. trade deficit by more than $13 billion by 2015.
• The Korea FTA would allow foreign corporations to skirt our U.S. courts and directly challenge our laws before the United Nations and other tribunals to demand compensation from our tax dollars for claimed violations of the trade pact.
• America shouldn't be signing trade deals that put taxpayers on the line for payouts we can't afford to corporations that offshore jobs.
• The Korea FTA would devastate the U.S. textile industry and hurt the U.S. auto supply chain by opening the door for Chinese auto parts to be used in U.S. and Korean cars.
• Colombia leads the world in murders and attacks against trade unionists with more than 2,800 reported killings since 1986, according to the National Labor School (ENS), Colombia’s leading nongovernmental organization monitoring labor rights.
• In 2010, Colombia remained the world’s most dangerous nation for labor activists with 52 union organizers murdered.
• According to the International Trade Union Confederation, 48 of the 101 union activists killed globally in 2009 were Colombian.
• Colombia has one of the lowest unionization rates in the world, just 70,000 people – in a workforce of 20 million.
• The rapid expansion of Colombia's palm oil production is causing both environmental harm and human rights abuses. Clearing land for palm oil plantations results in large scale deforestation and an increase in carbon pollution as well as violence towards and displacement of indigenous people.
• The tax agreement ratified by Panama’s legislature allows the country’s government to refuse a tax information request “where the disclosure of the information requested would be contrary to the public policy” of Panama. Given Panama’s longstanding public policy of encouraging tax-haven activities, this loophole is big enough to keep its offshore economy alive and kicking.
• The Panama tax law would not automatically send tax and banking information to the IRS and therefore would not stop tax cheating and money laundering.
• According to the U.S. Department of Justice and other entities, Panama is also a major financial conduit for Mexican and Colombian narcotraffickers' money laundering activities.
• According to the U.S. State Department, Panama has more than 350,000 foreign-registered companies, all of which face low to no taxes and regulation. This high rate of foreign incorporation – Panama is reportedly second only to Hong Kong – makes the country a magnet for tax evasion.