May 30, 2004

WHAT ABOUT THE STEEL TARIFFS?:

Central America Free Trade Agreement (Cynthia Kirk, May 29, 2004, VOA)

The United States has signed a trade agreement with five Central American countries. The five are Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Trade ministers from the six countries signed the agreement in a ceremony Friday at the Washington headquarters of the Organization of American States. The new treaty is known as the Central America Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA.

The Dominican Republic is expected to join CAFTA at a later date. All seven countries will be included in the agreement when it is presented to the United States Congress for approval.

President Bush first announced his plan to negotiate a free trade agreement with Central American countries in two-thousand-two. The negotiations were completed at the end of last year.


Mr. Bush continues to build on what was already quite the best free trade record of any modern president.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 30, 2004 11:53 PM
Comments

Honduran imports, making our lives better every day.

Posted by: Harry Eagar at May 31, 2004 5:40 PM

Good news but no one is paying attention to this stuff and those on the right upset over the tariffs will never give Bush his due.

Posted by: AWW at May 31, 2004 5:53 PM

Harry:

Indeed they do.
Even if they didn't, they certainly make Honduran lives better, and since America's rich beyond most Terrans' wildest dreams, I say, "Throw 'em a bone".

Posted by: Michael Herdegen at June 2, 2004 12:39 AM

OK, then you have to be for sugar subsidies and special arrangements for Honduran bananas, both of which are chief targets of the free-traders.

Sugar, of course, is going to be kept outside the agreement, to the fury of the free traders.

But if it's brought in, those little countries will have to sell into a world price that is probably a third of their cost of production.

That might not be so bad if they were in a position to abandon sugar and redeploy into . . . what?

Posted by: Harry Eagar at June 2, 2004 2:14 AM

Boutique foods for the gringos.

Posted by: oj at June 2, 2004 8:32 AM
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