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CAFTA gets the strong-arm
BY SARA DONNELLY
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The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), a Bush administration priority that was opposed by the Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission and environmental and labor groups nationwide, passed by a narrow margin last week in the US House of Representatives (see "The Big Picture," June 17). Just after midnight on Thursday, July 28, after reported extensive maneuvering by the Republican Party and the administration, CAFTA passed 217-215. The vote — typical House voting sessions last only 15 minutes — was kept open for an hour so Republicans could gather enough votes to pass the agreement. Both of Maine’s Representatives — Michael Michaud and Tom Allen — voted against CAFTA. CAFTA, already passed by the Senate and now awaiting the signature of the president, was the first national trade agreement the Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission (MCTPC) had evaluated since being formed in May 2004. They gave it a unanimous thumbs down. MCTPC is concerned that the trade agreement will undermine labor rights and state democracy. According to Matt Schlobohm, a coordinator at the Maine Fair Trade Campaign who sits on the commission, CAFTA is now, "a done deal." And, though he and the MCTPC think the deal is bogus, Schlobohm still sees a silver lining. "No one ever thought there would be this much of a struggle to get this trade agreement through Congress," he says. "It’s economically a very small trade agreement in terms of market size. So I think it sends a very clear message that the politics of trade and globalization have changed in this country. The model really is in crisis and will have a very, very hard time moving forward — this model trade agreement that grants corporations incredible new powers." In the wake of the CAFTA passage, MCTPC is completing its annual report and assessment of how international trade policies impact Maine’s economy and democracy. According to Schlobohm, MCTPC hopes to help states and citizens have more of a role in the international trade agreement process.
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