Reply #25: Bush tries to salvage trade accord (Arrogant little bastard)

[54anickel]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/18/business/cafta.php

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"This deal is a good deal for workers," Bush said in a speech on Friday at Gaston College in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina. "This basically says if you make a good product, it's going to be easier to sell your product to 44 million new customers."

Bush was mainly aiming his words at House Republicans from textile-producing areas, whose opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement has prevented party leaders from lining up a majority in favor of that pact. But so far, Bush is getting few results. Only one Republican from either North or South Carolina has pledged to vote for the accord - Representative Sue Myrick, whose district includes the Charlotte area. She flew in with Bush aboard Air Force One.

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Bush is trying to persuade more Republicans to sign on to the deal because Democrats are unusually united in their opposition, with many who had voted for previous trade deals saying that too many jobs have been lost in the United States to trade deals and that the labor provisions in the pact will hurt workers in the United States and in Central America.

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In his speech, Bush painted a picture of booming exports that would result from eliminating tariffs that Central American countries now impose on American yarn and fabric.

"Central America is the second-largest market in the world for our textile products," he said. "I don't know if people here in North Carolina know that. Think about what I just said: It is the second-largest market for textile products. So if you're a textile worker, it seems like to me, one of the questions you ask is, Where do we sell our products?"

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