During the next six months, the Bush administration will likely send three new trade agreements to Congress that are modeled almost exactly on NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), the trade deal that's wreaked havoc on the US and Mexican economies. The Bush administration will also push for a renewal of Fast Track legislation before it expires in June, which for the past five years has taken away Congress' ability to thoroughly evaluate and meaningfully amend trade pacts.
But just because it's business as usual for the Bush administration doesn't mean there's nothing new on the global trade front for activists to sink their teeth into. CAFTA, the Central America Free Trade Agreement, was approved by only two votes in the Republican-controlled Congress of 2005. With the new Democratically controlled Congress, a number of whose members were elected on fair trade, not "free trade," platforms, there's a chance that trade justice advocates can defeat the Bush administration's trade agenda—scoring a victory for people and the planet over corporate profits.
The trade agreements expected to go to Congress this spring are the US-Panama, US-Peru and US-Colombia trade agreements. All share elements that should be of concern to people who care about labor rights, the environment and democracy:
• Panama, Peru and Colombia will be forced to lower tariffs on agricultural products, which means the small farmers of those countries will face a flood of cheap, US-government-subsidized farm goods. In most cases, the small farmers won't be able to compete, as was the case in Mexico after the implementation of NAFTA. They will be driven off their farms and forced to migrate to urban areas or countries with more jobs, like the United States. In Colombia, small farmers may be pressured to go into coca cultivation or join the guerrillas or paramilitaries in order to survive.
•These agreements have no internationally recognized labor standards and, therefore, do nothing to protect workers—much less address problems such as sweatshops in Panama, child labor in Peru, or the murder of trade union activists in Colombia. More than 3,000 trade union activists have been killed in Colombia since 1985.
• Provisions to protect and extend the patent monopolies of US pharmaceutical companies will prevent Panama, Peru and Colombia from producing and providing low-cost, generic drugs, including life-saving medications like AIDS drugs—clearly designed to benefit large pharmaceutical companies over the health needs of regular people. •Under the "free trade" agreements essential public services like water, education and healthcare are more likely to be privatized, because public utility providers can't be given preference over private corporations. In some countries where water has been privatized, corporations have raised rates to unaffordable levels and then cut off water access for people unable to pay.
•There are no internationally recognized environmental protection standards in these agreements. In fact, existing environmental protections could be eliminated since corporations can challenge environmental and other laws they claim are "barriers to trade." This is especially of concern in Peru and Colombia as part of the Amazon basin, one of the most bio-diverse areas on earth and host to numerous Indigenous groups that both guard the environment and depend on it for their survival.
Because of Fast Track, once these agreements are introduced in Congress, they will go to the floor of the House and Senate for an up-or-down vote within 90 days. The process is rapid, there are no regular committee meetings, and Congress members are not allowed to amend the trade agreements in any way.
Activists also have to be on the fast track. We need to make sure Congress votes down these trade agreements and stands up for the values of human life and environmental sustainability over corporate profit.
Public Citizen, one of the most important non-governmental organizations working on trade in the United States, is urging people to get commitments from their members of Congress to vote no on these agreements and on the renewal of Fast Track. "For some members that may just require a phone call or email, but for some it really requires an all out pressure campaign," says David Edeli, Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch Organizer. "Write letters and opinion pieces in the local media, attend town hall meetings or public candidate appearances, and ask tough questions. In other words, bird-dog the Congress members."
There's no reason to assume that just because your Representative is a Democrat he/she is going to vote the right way on trade issues. The only way the Bush administration can get these new trade agreements approved is to convince a group of Democrats to join the Republicans and vote for them. Right now the Bush administration is negotiating with key Democrats who want international labor standards to be included in the trade agreements, and if an accord is reached, some Democrats may decide to support their passage. But the labor provisions still don't address other problematic aspects of the trade agreements, like their impact on farmers and the environment. In this context, pressure on the Democrats is as important, if not more important, than pressure on Republicans.
For inspiration, we need look no further than Panama, Colombia and Peru, where the general public is well aware that these trade agreements are going to make their economic prospects worse, not better. Both Peru and Colombia have seen major national marches and strikes against the trade agreements. Religious, labor, political, and Indigenous community leaders have spoken out loudly to protect their environments, their economies and their livelihoods.
It's time for civil society in the United States to do its part. Let's give the Bush administration -- and its corporate allies - another "thumping" this spring when it comes to global trade.
Take action: Tell Congress -- No New "Free Trade" Agreements
Call, email, fax or meet with your members of Congress and tell them to vote NO on the Peru, Panama and Colombia "free trade" agreements and on renewal of Fast Track. The capitol switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. Or click here to look up other contact information for your elected officials.