"Reject CAFTA" Update

Updated Legislative Alert: Activate Congress to Reject the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)

Background: The Bush administration announced on January 25 that it has reached agreement with Costa Rica to add it to four of its neighbors in creating a Central American Free Trade Area (CAFTA). The administration will likely submit the CAFTA agreement to Congress for approval sometime in the next few months. Once the CAFTA agreement is presented to Congress, the House and Senate will have 90 days to approve or reject it.

An AP article on January 25, "U.S., Costa Rica Reach Free Trade Deal," explained what the administration hopes to accomplish with CAFTA: "For its part, the administration hopes to use congressional passage of CAFTA as a stepping stone to achieving an even bigger goal, creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas [FTAA], covering all 34 democracies in the Western Hemisphere."

Fortunately, CAFTA may be the most politically vulnerable of the series of free trade agreements designed to set the stage for the FTAA. Congressional rejection of CAFTA in 2004 would help build momentum for rejection of the FTAA in 2005.