F.T.A.A.
Free Trade Area of the
Americas
Nicole Anello
Kara Breissinger
Neena Dreslin
Nicholas Lee
NAFTA- Objectives
Reduce trade barriers between parties
 Promote conditions of fair competition
 Increase investment opportunities
 Protection of intellectual property
rights
 Overall, to benefit all members
through increased and fairer trade
practices

NAFTA
PROS
 Created jobs in
Mexico
 Increased trade
between all
partners
 Reduced tariffs
and non-tariff
barriers

CONS
 Pollution at the
Mexican border
 Very low wages
 Poor labor
standards in
Mexico
 U.S. jobs lost

Objectives vs. Reality
U.S. companies
want to take
advantage of low
cost labor
 They want to get
away from unions
 Hoped to build
lucrative markets in
Northern Mexico

The low cost labor
is preventing
Mexicans from
improving their
standard of living
 No unions=unfair
working conditions
 Crime is increasing,
native work force is
being exhausted

What is going on today??
The facts show that Mexico has been
harmed in many ways
 U.S. blue-collar jobs have decreased
on the whole
 The net impact of immigration should
be that it will decrease
 Cultural identity is being lost

Sweatshops & Human Rights

Proponents of NAFTA Push:
More Jobs (US, Mexico, and Canada)
 Higher Wages
 Better Deals on Goods and Services


Effects
US workers lost hundreds of thousands of
jobs
 Mexican workers encountered low wages
and unfair labor practices

Claim Against Washington State
Apple Industry

Failure of US Labor Law to Protect
Workers’ Rights


Inadequacy and Failure of US Labor Law
Mary Mendez (worked 7 years in apple
industry)
Difficulty Forming Union (armed guards)
 Threatened with Immigration
 Unfair Wage Reductions if in Union
 Anti-union Propaganda and Threats

In Addition…

Illegal Chemical Hazards

Fired and Overworked Injured People

“Anglos” had lighter jobs and are
better paid

May take up to two years for Labor Law
Violations to Reach Arbitration
Chapter 11

Purpose


To ensure that US investors abroad receive
the same type of protection that foreign
investors get in the US with or without a
treaty
Reality

May lead to a fundamentally different
world in the degree of power corporations
hold on democratic governments
-Dan Seligman, Director of the Sierra Club’s Trading
Program
Chapter 11 in Practice

California Case: Methanex v. the US




Methanex, a Canadian Company
Produces Gasoline Additive MTBE
 Caused cancer in lab animals
Gov. Gray Davis authorized its phase out
 Filed a suit for $970 million in compensation
 Behind closed doors
Questions our own sovereignty
 Is it our decision or an un-elected body’s
decision?
 NAFTA denies tribunals the power to overrule
state law
History of the FTAA
Free Trade Area of the Americas

First Summit of the Americas: Miami, 1994



Declaration of Principles


34 heads of state
addressed common issues and sought solutions to
shared problems
defined the goals of the FTAA
12 working groups established


negotiate for the FTAA
lead to a committed initiation of FTAA
negotiations in 1998
What Does it Mean for the US in the
future?

Possible free trade with all countries of
North, Central, and South America

Increased competition and standards
for US made goods and services

Further integration; similar to the
modern day European Union

Creation of a single currency and
common market
General Objectives

To promote prosperity through
increased economic integration and
free trade among the countries of our
hemisphere.

To establish a Free Trade Area,
concluding negotiations by 2005.

To maximize market openness through
high levels of disciplines.
General Objectives

To provide opportunities to facilitate
the integration of the smaller
economies in the FTAA.

To strive to make our trade
liberalization and environmental
policies mutually supportive.

To secure observance and promotion of
workers rights.
PROS & CONS
Free trade region
 Benefits of further
integration
 Increased
competition
 Promote prosperity

Congress not
involved
 NGOs denied
participation
 Extreme power
given to
corporations
 “Deepen negative
effects of NAFTA”

Possible Negative Effects

Ability of corporations to bypass
environmental and worker protection
laws

Services will be liberalized

Exacerbation of environmental
destruction

Negative expansion of IPR

Increase use of GMOs
Human Rights
 Largest
fear
 FTAA
values corporate profits over
human costs
 increase
of poverty and inequality
QUESTIONS?