|
Peru trade deal approved by House Ways & Means |
|
|
|
|
Written by Stumo
|
|
Wednesday, 26 September 2007 |
|
The Peru trade agreement was approved
yesterday in the House Ways and Means Committee by a voice vote.
Rangel chairs the committee. He is an unreformed free trader in
the Thomas Friedman sense - i.e. if it says "trade agreement" he
will work to support it.
Rangel has very little manufacturing, and no agriculture, in his district - NY-15 in Manhattan, NY.
A majority of Republicans and a minority of Democrats on the committee voted yes.
Rangel
uses the "labor and environmental" shield to say he is making
changes. But these provisions will continue promoting outsourcing jobs, and do not address
the value added tax problem,
which allows Peru 19% import tariffs and 19% export subsidies without
restriction. The agreement gives foreign companies the right to
sue our state and local governments to overturn our laws that interfere
with their investments in the U.S. And it continues to shred our
food safety system with imports from low regulation countries without
inspection. The support of labor and environmental groups is
notably absent.
 |
