[Gpn-announcements] Proposed U.S. - Vietnam/ Korea Trade Pacts in Trouble

[Tony Avirgan]

House Takes Down Bad Vietnam Trade Deal; South Koreans Set to Protest
Trade Pact


by James Parks <http://blog.aflcio.org/?page_id=289> , Nov 14, 2006

Yesterday, the lame-duck U.S. House of Representatives surprised
Republican leaders by defeating legislation to "normalize" trade
relations with Vietnam, four days before President George W. Bush makes
his first visit to that country.

The Republicans were up to their old tricks again, trying to rush the
bill through without much debate. But they failed to get the two-thirds
majority they needed to pass the measure under a special procedure. The
bill failed 228-161, 32 votes short of the 260 needed for passage.

In a letter to House members yesterday, AFL-CIO Legislation Director
William Samuel said the bill would not help working families in the
United States or Vietnam:

While the AFL-CIO supports expanded trade with Vietnam, and particularly
supports programs and efforts to improve the living standards and
conditions of Vietnamese workers, our trade relations with Vietnam
should remain governed by existing agreements until such time that
Vietnam takes meaningful steps to bring practice and law regarding
workers' rights into compliance with international standards.

The proposal also faces obstacles in the U.S. Senate, where the
administration has offered assurances that it will impose penalties on
Vietnamese textile products if the country is found to be selling those
products at unfairly low prices.

Republicans, who still control the House in the lame-duck session, could
bring the measure up under normal procedures, which require only a
majority of votes for passage.

Meanwhile, another trade deal with an Asian country is in trouble. The
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and other organizations have
called for a nationwide general strike Wednesday to protest massive
repression of workers' rights and violence against trade unionists, as
well as the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS-FTA). Over the past
several months, South Korean police have launched raids against and shut
down more than 80 union halls, jailed more than 100 union members and
used violent tactics resulting in the death of at least one worker.

In what would be the biggest trade pact
<http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/globaleconomy/tradeagreements.
cfm>  since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, the
KORUS-FTA would further erode the rights of South Korean workers, many
of whom now work long hours in unsafe conditions.

Meanwhile, despite published reports that lame-duck House Republicans
could bring up another bad trade deal
<http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/globaleconomy/tradeagreements.
cfm> , this one with Peru
<http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/08/08/bush-pushes-another-bad-trade-deal%e2
%80%94this-time-with-peru/> , most observers believe the deal will not
come up until next year when Democrats, who favor fair trade, will be in
control of Congress.

AFL-CIO Blog

  

 

 

Tony Avirgan

Global Policy Network

www.gpn.org <http://www.gpn.org/> 

Economic Policy Institute

www.epi.org

Phone: 202 533 2555

 

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