by: David Bacon, Truthout | News Analysis
Displaced Colombian farmers on the road looking for work in the sugar cane fields of Cauca. A free trade agreement will increase the number of farmers displaced by grain and agricultural dumping from the US. (Photos: David Bacon)
Last week, President Obama broke his campaign commitment and put three free trade agreements up for a vote in Congress. Business interests, ecstatic at the prospect, promise they'll bring us jobs. Experience tells us, however, their promises are worthless.
Nineteen years ago, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was in Congress, supporters said it, too, would create jobs and protect labor rights. Before agreeing to new free trade treaties with Colombia, South Korea and Panama, Congress should look at the dismal record.
Promise No. 1: A typical pro-business study predicted in 1992 that NAFTA would create 130,000 US jobs in two years, double US exports to Mexico and create 609,000 jobs there. Today Tom Donahue, CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, repeats the promise, saying the three new treaties also "are about creating jobs."
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