A letter from Ken Salazar re: CAFTA.

[coloradodem2005]

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, on June 30, the Senate voted to pass DR-CAFTA by a vote of 54 to 45, and on July 28, the House voted to pass the agreement by a vote of 217 to 215. The President has now signed DR-CAFTA into law. You may also be interested to know that I did not support this agreement for several reasons.

First, I believe that Colorado's farmers and ranchers are left behind in DR-CAFTA and that our trade representatives have failed to represent rural America as a whole in these trade negotiations. In 2004, Colorado exports to DR-CAFTA countries equaled about $8 million. Furthermore, the International Trade Commission (ITC) has concluded that the Agreement, when fully implemented, will provide the U.S. economy $166 million more each year - less than 0.01 % of the Gross Domestic Product. While $166 million is a step in the right direction, it certainly is not a sum that will provide substantial changes in regards to our enormous trade deficit.

Second, while I recognize that trade agreements are fundamentally geopolitical documents with important impacts on our foreign policy, I believe that this agreement is a missed opportunity to bring continued democracy and freedom to these countries markets. I do not believe that America's relationship with our neighbors to the south should be based on a single trade agreement.

Finally, I support trade, and I recognize that increased trade is good for our economy, for our businesses, farmers and ranchers, our workers and our families. However, I do not believe that DR-CAFTA, as negotiated, did anything to open new markets for our producers. In fact, even under the most optimistic scenario when this agreement is fully implemented, U.S. world exports are only expected to increase by a minuscule amount if it all to this region. I believe that we need to be better at opening new markets, and not just spend our time fighting to keep those we already have.

I am hopeful that we can do better for our producers and for Central America, and I look forward to working with my colleagues and the Administration to do so. Again, thank you for contacting me.


Sincerely,

Ken Salazar
United States Senator



Thank you Ken!!!!

[leftofthedial]

1. way to go Ken!

Frankly, I'm a little surprised.