More than 20 business associations are pushing US President George W. Bush to renegotiate the DR-CAFTA agreement or forget about its approval this year. During a press conference that took place in Washington DC yesterday, representatives of a number of associations, together with both Democrat and Republican legislators asked Bush to withdraw the proposed legislation. President Bush had been urging legislators to pass the bill that would bring the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Costa Rica into a free trade area similar to the one that exists between the US, Canada and Mexico.
The petition from the manufacturing and commercial sector was signed by Kevin Kearns, the president of the United States Council on Business and Industry. It listed a series of complaints from the private sector, which is concerned about the agreement’s effect on their interests.
According to the 24 groups that co-signed the letter, DR-CAFTA will only replicate the problems brought about by US trade policies over the past 15 years: an increased deficit; factory closures; job losses and benefits to the multinational companies. The letter accused the US government of “ignoring realities.” The group painted a very dark picture of the future of small and medium-sized businesses in the United States if DR-CAFTA is passed. Democratic representative Sherrod Brown said the bill would be defeated because it was “by the few for the few.” This was followed by remarks by Republican representative Walter Jones who said that NAFTA – the free trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico – had not only increased the trade deficit but had increased illegal immigration, and he warned that the same thing could happen with DR-CAFTA.
As reported in Hoy, sources say that President Bush will send the bill to Congress this week. Congress then has 90 days to vote on its ratification.