Solís Calls for
Renegotiation of Free
Trade Deal
Ottón Solís, leader of
the Partido Acción
Cuidadana (PAC) and the
main opposition to the
Tratado de Libre
Comericio (TLC) said he
wants to renegotiate the
agreement with the U.S.
Solis, said rules in the
Central American Free
Trade Agreement would
give foreign investors
access to independent
tribunals, allow imports
of subsidized U.S. farm
goods that would push
local farmers out of
work and undermine any
strengthening of
environmental laws Costa
Rica might want to
pursue.
The PAC leader who lost
to Oscar Arias by a
small margin in the 2006
presidential elections,
cited the revamping of
the Peru agreement as a
precedent.
Peru's Congress, which
in June 2006 approved a
free-trade agreement
with the U.S., was
forced to approve
amendments to that trade
deal this year after the
Bush administration and
Democrats in Congress
insisted on new rules
for labor rights and the
environment.
"That's a very good
precedent, to be dynamic
rather than static,''
Solis said in a speech
in Washington on
Wednesday. "It shows
that this thing can be
renegotiated even after
some parliament has
approved it.''
In 2005, the U.S.
Congress approved the
trade deal with five
Central American
countries -- Costa Rica,
Guatemala, Nicaragua, El
Salvador and Honduras --
and the Dominican
Republic. All the
countries except Costa
Rica have ratified and
implemented the tariff
cuts and investment
rules since then.
Costa Rica will decide
on the future of the
trade deal on October 7
by holding a public
referendum where at
least 40% of the voters
must participate or the
trade deal will be sent
back to the Legislature
for voting.
The accord removes
duties on 80 percent of
the us$15 billion in
annual U.S. exports to
the region and makes
permanent the duty-free
access to the U.S. that
most Central American
products already
enjoyed.
Costa Rica, the region's
richest nation, doesn't
need the agreement
because it is benefiting
from high-tech
investments and can
compete with China and
other low-cost countries
because of its strong
education system and
infrastructure, Solis
said.
"There is no way for us
to compete with the
wages in those
countries,'' Solis said.
"We have to compete
based on our comparative
advantages.''
Solis and his PAC party
is heading the "No"
campaign for the
referendum vote, as the
party attempts to
persuade Costa Ricans
into rejecting the deal.
Getting a renegotiated
deal is unlikely because
`"fast-track authority''
in the U.S. has expired,
and Congress won't be
inclined to approve any
new trade agreements,
said John Murphy, vice
president of the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce.
Under fast track,
Congress must accept or
reject a trade agreement
without amending it.
Solis said he would
prefer to have no trade
agreement with the U.S.
to signing the Central
America Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA)
(TLC as it is known
locally) as currently
negotiated. He used the
experience of the North
American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), which
the U.S., Canada and
Mexico signed in 1994,
to bolster his argument.
If NAFTA has been such a
success, then why is the
U.S. building a wall
along the border with
Mexico?'' he asked. |
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