ARI on CAFTA

Dear Editor:

The Senate did well to approve the Central American Free Trade Pact.

The government should eliminate all tariffs and quotas on imported products because Americans have the moral right to pursue their self-interest and buy cheaper goods from abroad, without government interference.

The proper purpose of government is to protect the rights of its citizens, not to protect the market share of domestic producers.

The right to trade is part of the right to life and liberty, and is essential to the survival and prosperity of all individuals. An individual's right to trade is based on his right to the use and disposal of his property, and is a basic human right.

Government's role in trade should be to protect it, not to forbid or obstruct it. As long as trade is done voluntarily, there should be no legal impediments to block it.

David Holcberg
Ayn Rand Institute

2121 Alton Parkway #250
Irvine, CA 92660
(949) 222-6550 ext. 226

I agree with everything he says, but this letter doesn't address all the issues brought up by The Libery Committee. Or doesn't seem to.

I agree that it's better than what we have now, but are layers of bureaucracy going to strangle this agreement?

UPDATE: Perhaps I should post the Libertee Committee's objection here:

The pro-CAFTA forces aren't really for true free trade. They are for global managed
trade...because that is what CAFTA (like NAFTA) really is. Think about it. Why
does it take over 1,000 pages to define free trade?

We've had over 10 years of NAFTA so we should know what to expect with CAFTA.
Again, "CAFTA is NAFTA on steroids!"

CAFTA fits hand-in-glove with the world-government agenda to make the U.S. just
another client state. How?

Consider: CAFTA article 10.16.3 places the United States under the jurisdiction of
international tribunals supervised by the United Nations.

Consider: CAFTA article 10.5.2(a) states that these international tribunals must use
"customary international law" as established by the "principle legal systems of the
world" when deciding cases.

Welcome to the United Nations' world court system!

And then there's the unconstitutional granting of "fast track" authority to the
president. Article I, section 8, clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the
sole authority to regulate international trade. But CAFTA, like NAFTA, treats the
U.S. Constitution as a relic.

We already suffer from the World Trade Organization and its international
bureaucrats. CAFTA will add another layer of unaccountable world elites who will
tell us what we can and cannot do.

Even the French understand the critical importance of national sovereignty. They
recently rejected the proposed constitution of the European Union. Remember that
the E.U. started as a trade agreement in 1957, and now it is a regional supra
government.

NAFTA. CAFTA. And then the Union of the Americas.

We strongly urge a "no" vote on CAFTA. Tell your U.S. senators to reject CAFTA.

Free Trade is great. Is that what we're getting here?