Jubilee Northwest Coalition

Would you oppose it? Would you urge your member of Congress to oppose it too? If you’re like millions of other practical, compassionate Americans, I’m sure you would.

But Congress is about to vote on precisely such a proposal. It’s called “CAFTA” – the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement – and it will soon be approved unless citizens act now to let their congressional representatives know CAFTA is bad policy. 

For communities of faith, CAFTA may seem charming on the surface. “Free” trade across borders should benefit working families in the US and the huge number of poor in Central America and the Dominican Republic , right? Unfortunately, no. Free trade comes at a high cost for all but the upper-most tier of society – the large corporations, huge agri-businesses and global financiers with the capital and inclination to run roughshod over small businesses, family farmers, and developing economies.

CAFTA is basically an extension of the 10-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, or “NAFTA,” which was supposed to raise the economic tide for working people in Mexico , Canada , and the United States . Instead, NAFTA has been a bust:

• The Economic Policy Institute estimates more that 870,000 production jobs in the US were displaced when a huge influx of cheap imports were allowed under NAFTA.
• The trade deficit with Canada and Mexico ballooned 900 percent, to more than $90 billion.
• Immigration from Mexico , which was supposed to fall markedly under NAFTA, has instead increased as deep disparities between US and Mexican incomes and job opportunities continue.

Many in the faith community are opposing CAFTA because it runs contrary to internationally accepted standards of human rights, fairness and environmental stewardship. Workers in Central America already work under deficient labor laws, but CAFTA provides little or no incentive to protect against worker’s rights abuses, sex discrimination or inadequate labor law enforcement.

Negotiated mostly in secret, CAFTA would devastate poor campesinos left exposed to subsidized farm imports from the United States . The intellectual property provisions would prevent Central American countries from manufacturing or importing affordable generic medications to use against HIV/AIDS and other devastating diseases.

CAFTA’s lack of effective environmental protection is especially troubling. Central America is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, where 70 percent of the forest cover is already lost. Unfortunately, CAFTA provides inadequate safeguards for what little remains, or for providing clean air and water for the people who live there.

CAFTA would also allow foreign investors to sue governments if environmental safeguards or worker protections hinder profits. That may compel policy makers here and in Central America to simply dismantle those protections, or risk costly settlements.

CAFTA is opposed by literally thousands of organizations across the country, including Latino groups, labor organizations, human rights groups, environmental groups, small farmers, and faith-based and religious organizations like mine -- the Washington Association of Churches.

Washington State is the most trade dependent state in the nation.  One in three of our jobs here are tied to trade.  Which makes it even more important that we negotiate trade deals that are fair, and balanced.  That protect jobs, human rights, and our natural environment.