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Vote No to expand the NAFTA into Peru |
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The Bush administration has just sent the official Peru "free trade" agreement (FTA) legislation to Congress. Basically, this FTA would extend the rules of NAFTA and CAFTA to Peru (with Panama, Colombia and Korea around the corner). Like the preceding Free Trade Agreements NAFTA and CAFTA before them, these new FTAs follow the same agricultural rules and cause hardship for millions of small farmers, causing many to lose their livelihoods.
According to Oxfam America:
"A third of Peru's population depends on agriculture to make a living. Just like with the US-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), the US-Peru FTA would force Peru to open its market to subsidized agricultural imports. Each year, the US government pays billions of dollars in subsidies. This encourages industrial-sized farms to overproduce and dump surpluses, which depresses local prices. Peruvian farmers, who grow crops that are vital to the domestic economy, such as wheat, corn, rice, and cotton, simply can't compete. The US-Peru FTA would push poor farmers deeper into poverty."
Our Peruvian trading partners are very concerned with the impact the proposed US-Peru Free Trade Agreements would have on their members and small-scale farmers throughout the country. They are asking us to do what we can to let consumers know that Congress will be voting on this during the next few months.
Please call your Congressional representative today and tell them you oppose all attempts to expand the NAFTA experience into Peru or click this link to Public Citizen's website to send a letter to congress. Unfortunately, under the Free Trade rules, Congress is not allowed to negotiate the Free Trade Agreements (in other words, there is no way to suggest improvements or changes). Congress will only be able to vote these agreements up or down in their entirety. Please urge them to vote NO.
For more information on where the process stands in Congress, click here.
To read a copy of the letter opposing the U.S. – Peru FTA that Oxfam America has sent to Members of Congress, click here.
Watch a video about the potential impacts of the U.S. – Peru FTA which will be voted on by Congress:
The video was made by the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC) and Cross Border Labor Organizing Council (CBLOC).
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