ISDS Case Map
CAFTA
US - Central America Free Trade Agreement
Mexico's assembly-for-export industry, which has struggled to compete with China, will likely be hurt further by the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement, officials said Wednesday.
The notion that 283,000 textile and apparel jobs will be created in Central America as a result of CAFTA is a pipedream.
As indicated by CAFTA's ratification, instead of pushing for the enactment of the FTAA, the Bush administration has re-evaluated its strategy, now attempting to build up momentum by establishing separate free trade agreements with the different regions in the hemisphere through a "divide-and-conquer" strategy.
Pressing for passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement at a White House news conference in May, President Bush made the case that a vote for CAFTA was a vote for democracy: "By transforming our hemisphere into a powerful free trade area, we will promote democratic governance, human rights and economic liberty for everyone," he said.
Pharmaceutical companies are using free-trade deals like CAFTA to eliminate
global competition -- and deny poor patients access to cheaper generic
drugs.
Puerto Rico's trade with the Dominican Republic could double with the approval of Cafta-DR.
DR-CAFTA's narrow victory will incite US domestic producers' lobbies to exert heavier pressure to get a US-Panama agreement more favorable to US industry.
There are signs that many Americans are becoming more unwilling to bear the burdens of free trade.
President Bush signed the Central America Free Trade Agreement into law Tuesday.
Members of the Stop CAFTA Coalition denounced the approval of the US-Dominican Republic Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) which passed by a vote of 217 to 215 in the House of Representatives early Thursday morning.
