John Spratt: “there are various good reasons to vote against CAFTA, but the first is enough and it's basic: this is not a good deal.…”

“there are various good reasons to vote against CAFTA, but the first is enough and it's basic: this is not a good deal. The U.S. is running unprecedented trade deficits--$618 billion last year, $195 billion this year in the first quarter alone. And the deficit worsens every year, weakening our economy and our independence. Virtually every trade deal the U.S. has made has resulted in far more imports than exports. Yet we keep creating free trade zones in the blind faith that the market will optimize the outcome. Central American countries are part of the Carribean Basin and already enjoy wide-open access to our markets by virtue of tariff Item 807, the Generalized System of Preferences, the Carribean Basin Trade Partnership Agreement, and the Uruguay Round of GATT, which has removed all quotas on textile/apparel imports. Far from being disadvantaged, these countries enjoy preferential access now. In fact, the Caribbean Basin countries as a group already export more to the U.S. than Mexico and import less. The CBI countries shipped $2.6 billion in apparel exports to the U.S. versus $1.6 billion in apparel shipments from Mexico. During the most recent quarter, CBI countries imported $655 million in fabric from the U.S. Mexico imported $809 million. Overall, in 2004 our textile/apparel trade deficit with Mexico was $3.765 versus $5.669 with CBI countries. CAFTA purports to be based on a rule of origin adopted from NAFTA.…”