07/01/05 CAFTA-DR not a breakthrough?

The battle over the Central American  Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement took some interesting turns late last week. The first was that President Bush came out before an audience and signed the agreement. So the clock is now running, as Congress has ninety days from the date of signing to cast an up or down vote on C.A.F.T.A.-D.R. But the interesting turn is that for weeks, there had been speculation that the Bush Administration did not have the votes in either the House or Senate to pass the trade measure, amid primary concerns that the deal was fair for everyone except our nation's sugar industry. So what happened? The second interesting turn & an announcement earlier in the day by U.S.D.A. Secretary Mike Johanns during a press conference in Washington D.C. First, he confirmed that the Bush Administration was talking with the sugar industry to find common ground. But then he guaranteed protections for the sugar industry that would prevent a level of imports that would harm U.S. sugar producers, while allowing C.A.F.T.A.-D.R. to work under its current framework. JOHANNS: Under the power I have as Secretary, I could buy commodities and trade those commodities with the C.A.F.T.A countries in lieu of them sending sugar to us. And so the whole idea here is that I can say to Congress, here's the concept, and you are absolutely protected under the life of the Farm Bill. And it is those protections through 2007 that has led several Congressmen, and many originally opposed to C.A.F.T.A.-D.R. to reconsider. That is not to say all Congressmen are buying Johanns' ideas. Minnesota Senator Colin Peterson remains opposed to C.A.F.T.A.-D.R., calling the measure a flawed deal. But based on Johanns' announcement and Congressional reaction at large, many were calling this outreach a breakthrough including the Secretary himself. But one person who didn't see it as a breakthough per se was the one of the main negotiators of C.A.F.T.A.-D.R., outgoing U.S. Chief Ag Trade Negotiator Allen Johnson. JOHNSON: Certainly, the Secretary's doing everything he can to confirm what he's been saying, which is that C.A.F.T.A.-D.R. is not a threat to the sugar program or the sugar industry, and in that sense, I think he's been very forthcoming in trying to provide people with that kind of reassurance. And in having said that, Johnson added that he personally has no doubts, and never did, that Congress will eventually pass C.A.F.T.A.-D.R.