Saturday, February 06, 2010

Obama and FTAs

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says that the Obama administration "absolutely" plans to pass free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama (in addition to South Korea) this year after mentioning them in the SOTU.

Obama is currently close to admitting failure in his bid for health care reform, which is frustrating the Democrats he needs to pass either FTAs or immigration.  Once health care is either passed or scuttled, everyone turns to the midterm elections and refrains from sticking their necks out too much.

With regard to FTAs, he may get the worst of all worlds.  He supports them rhetorically, which annoys Democrats concerned about human rights abuses in Colombia.  But then he will be unable to match the rhetoric with action, which will make him look weaker and annoy pro-market Democrats.

3 comments:

Justin Delacour 2:07 PM  

Obama is currently close to admitting failure in his bid for health care reform

If he fails, his failure will be self-induced. If a Democratic President and a Democratic Congress can't even manage to push through a milquetoast piece of legislation like that, they will have brought failure upon themselves.

Defensores de Democracia 4:28 PM  

Trade and the U. S. Supreme Court.

Supreme Court Decision : If American Corporations can elect more Congressmen, then I can safely forecast these two developments :

According to the last U. S. Supreme Court Decision, Corporations are freer to spend money on Politicians, and can give money freely to all type of politics.

My predictions :

1) There will be in the Future a better Atmosphere in Congress for Free Trade Agreements, because these Big Corporations like Microsoft, ATT, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Caterpillar, Johnson and Johnson, Kimberley Clark, General Electric, General Foods, etc .... can export more products.

2) Corporations will oppose Big Progroms to expulse Immigrants ( Legal or Illegal ). Am I wrong ???? ..... Many people will say that I am wrong, but Business is Business.

Specially in Agricultural Fields, many American Businesses rely on Foreign Born People, and this has become an entrenched hard to kill custom. Some businesses will feel threatened of Death if their Work Force is expulsed. And remember that this Workforce could return to the original countries and their produce can be exported to the USA as Third World Exports. And American Capital from entrepreneurs may also migrate South of the Border. American Agricultural Businesses can migrate South, where they have already "Free Trade Agreements". So Americans can't stop Imports overnight, they would have to elect an anti-Trade Congress first.

People may not like what I wrote, but this is HARD ECONOMIC REALITIES.

Another Matter about Trade :

These "Little and Unimportant Countries" are closing trade agreements with Asiatic PowerHouses and with the European Community, also with Canada and other Latin Nations.

One day Canadian Wheat or Argentinian Wheat can go duty free to Colombia, Panama, South Korea, etc ... and American Wheat will have to pay taxes.

One Businessman once told me : "Fight for the penny, nail the penny in business"

The enemies of Free Trade are not grabbing the penny.


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Boli-Nica 10:32 AM  

good God I actually agree with Delacour...scary. it was a very mild piece of legislation that Republicans managed to tarr. and the Dems should've shoved it down the Republicans throats.

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