Senate Passes CAFTA

Date: Friday, August 01, 2003 1:48 AM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

Chan Heng Chee, Singapore's Ambassador to the US, was ecstatic that
both Democrats and Republicans were willing to sell out American
workers. Only 7 Republicans voted against the Singapore FTA, and 21
Democrats voted for it.

This is a sad day for America. I'm sending this early in the morning
because it's very hard to sleep on this one.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10883-2003Jul31.html

washingtonpost.com
Congress Passes Landmark Free Trade Deals

Reuters
Thursday, July 31, 2003; 10:31 PM

By Pablo Bachelet

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate approved free trade pacts with
Chile and Singapore on Thursday, giving both nations the final
congressional go-ahead and ushering in what Bush administration
officials hope will be a new era in trade negotiations.

The Senate voted 66-31 in favor of the Chile trade bill and 66-32 for
Singapore, reflecting strong bipartisan backing for both bills. The
House of Representatives passed the agreements last week by wide
margins.

A coalition of manufacturers, farm groups, high-tech, entertainment and
services companies backed the agreements, which add to existing U.S.
free trade deals with Canada, Mexico, Jordan and Israel.

Labor groups lobbied against both deals, saying they take away jobs.

"Tonight's strong margins of victory show that when real free trade
agreements with tangible benefits for businesses, workers, and
consumers are on the table, Congress will have open markets for
America," said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.

Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, praised the two deals as
"state-of-the-art agreements" and Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican,
said the Chilean pact was a "very important step" in building up
support for the United States in Latin America.

President Bush has 10 days to sign the bills.

The White House hopes the Chilean pact will set the stage for a free
trade deal with five Central American countries and a more ambitious
34-nation Free Trade Area of the Americas.

The Bush administration is also negotiating deals with the Dominican
Republic, Australia, Morocco and South Africa.

The trade pacts with Chile and Singapore put the United States "back in
the game on international trade," said Bill Morley, vice president of
congressional affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "We're thrilled
to have them pass it."

The Chile agreement is more far-reaching than the Singapore pact and
includes provisions to free agricultural trade completely within 12
years.

But senators from both sides of the aisle voiced concerns over
provisions that award 6,800 work visas per year to professional workers
from both countries under preferential conditions at a time of rising
unemployment.

"We should not be promoting the importation of skilled labor to the
United States when we have 9 million workers out of work," said Sen.
Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa.

Title : US-Singapore FTA clears last hurdle with 66-32 Senate vote
By :
Date : 01 August 2003 1501 hrs (SST)
URL :
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/economicnews/view/45841/1/.html

The United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has comfortably
cleared its last major hurdle.

American senators, working late, approved the deal by 66 votes to 32 on
Thursday.

Both houses of the US Congress have now passed the measure, opening the
way for President George Bush to sign the relevant legislation into
law.

It means a process, which began over a now famous game of golf between
Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and then-American President Bill
Clinton, is nearly at an end.

A similar deal between the US and Chile was also passed.

When it came, the result was clear and just what Singaporean officials
had been hoping for.

Chan Heng Chee, Singapore's Ambassador to the US, was clearly ecstatic
at the news.

"We've worked hard for two and a half years for this moment, for the
passage of the Free Trade Agreement and I'm glad it's all over and
we've got it," said Prof Chan.

There was also considerable satisfaction among those US business
organisations which had been pushing hard for the deal.

John Phipps, Senior Director for Indonesia and Singapore Affairs,
US-ASEAN Business Council said: "This will create further incentives
for investment in Asia.

"I think that it will keep companies very much engaged and be looking
for opportunities and we hope it leads to other trade agreements in the
region," he added.

Supporters say congressional passage of the agreement - signed at the
White House earlier this year - was helped by Singapore's reputation in
the US.

Prof Chan said: "It is generally recognised in the United States and on
the Hill that we are free traders, we have good governance -
transparent - and the fact that we are a good defence partner, a good
defence friend of the United States, all of these factors helped."

But Singaporean officials in America did not rely on that reservoir of
goodwill alone to ensure that lawmakers approved an agreement hammered
out in 11 rounds of negotiations.

Once the negotiators had done most of their work, it became a lobbying
job. That task fell to diplomats who travelled from the Singapore
embassy to Capitol Hill to press the case with US lawmakers.

That effort intensified over the past six months and Prof Chan held up
to eight meetings a day with American lawmakers.

"Trade votes are not easily got," she recalled.

That was demonstrated right up to the end, when strong objections were
raised to immigration provisions in the FTA.

Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan told lawmakers: "The majority of the
senate will vote 'yes', 'yes' to free trade to Singapore and 'yes' to
5,400 immigrants from Singapore to come to this country to take
American jobs. I am not going to vote for that."

Some senators insisted that it was up to Congress to regulate
immigration, not the US government by way of a trade deal.

They were upset that under American law, they were able only to accept
or reject - not amend - a trade agreement.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said: "We can't change a thing. We
can't change a comma. We can't dot an 'i'. We can't cross a 't'."

The controversy was fuelled by worries about the US economy.

Prof Chan said: "Congressmen who vote against a free trade agreement
equate trade with loss of jobs."

Voting on the Singapore deal was also delayed while Democrats and
Republicans fought over other issues, and the clock ticked towards the
Senate's August break.

Stephen Norton of Congressional Quarterly explained: "It's like the
last week of the semester, when people are staying up late, getting too
much work done. They're not getting enough sleep. They're getting
cranky. There's a lot of pressure."

In this case however, the pressure produced action.

Democratic Senator Max Baucus praised the deals, saying: "Singapore and
Chile free trade agreements are solid agreements and will create
economic opportunities for Americans."

In the end, two thirds of the Senate agreed.

While the result was never in real doubt, the vote is a relief to
Singaporean diplomats, who knew the longer the issue dragged on, the
greater the risk of it getting bogged down in domestic American
politics, ahead of next year's congressional and presidential
elections.

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Rob Sanchez is board member of NAEA - www.NAEA.US

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