The pending deal with the Dominican Republic and five Central American nations faces formidable obstacles.
By STEVE HUETTEL
Published October 5, 2004
TAMPA - The free trade accord with five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic faces a shaky future.
The U.S. textile and sugar industries, along with labor and environmental groups, are gunning for the pact. Voter concerns about more jobs going overseas make the deal a political hot potato. A win by Democrat John Kerry next month could put the agreement on hold for years.
Against that backdrop, four Central American ambassadors and trade advocates came to Tampa on Monday to rally support among local businesses before the pact goes for a vote in Congress, sometime after the Nov. 2 election.
"We have an agreement that's ready to go, it just hasn't passed," said William Morley, vice president for congressional affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "We'll lose a lot of opportunity if the vote doesn't happen this year - or as soon as possible."
The proposed U.S.-DominicanRepublic-Central America Free Trade Agreement would ease trade barriers between the United States, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Besides eliminating tariffs, the pact would set rules on issues such as how long certain patents last, and would allow governments to establish minority set-asides in contracts.
Florida businesses exported $3.1-billion of goods to the nations last year. Computers and electronics equipment and pieces of garments, which are sewn together into whole garments and shipped back to the United States, were the top products.
The U.S. Chamber estimates that Florida exports would jump $958-million, or 17 percent, in the first year of the agreement and create 6,879 new jobs.
"These are not huge markets," said Manuel Lasaga of StratInfo, an economics and financial consulting firm in Miami. "But they do present opportunities for small businesses."
The ambassadors and free trade boosters - whose U.S. tour is sponsored by corporate giants such as Intel, Procter & Gamble and Pfizer - stressed that the accord's benefits aren't just for big business.
A brochure called "Faces of Trade" profiled small business success stories. The crowd of about 50 at the Hyatt Regency Tampa heard from people such as Ralph Kluesner of Electric Supply of Tampa, which landed a deal to sell $1.2-million in electrical tape to a distributor in Chile soon after a trade pact with the South American nation was ratified by Congress.
Opponents challenge the Central America-Dominican Republic agreement on various fronts. Labor groups say the deal doesn't provide workers in the six nations enough protections. Environmental and human rights organizations say U.S. food exports will destroy Central American agriculture markets, forcing farmers into textile sweatshops.
Florida's sugar industry would be threatened by imports, putting 23,000 jobs at risk, Katie A. Edwards, executive director of the Dade County Farm Bureau, wrote in a Miami Herald column last week.
Facing voter concerns about losing more American jobs, Congress put off consideration of the agreement until after the elections, said U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, a Tampa Democrat and free trade advocate. He and fellow members will dig into the details next year.
"This Congress is going to have to work through those concerns," Davis said. "We clearly need to have an agreement. The question is, (exactly) what does it say?"
