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Article

22 May 2007

Author:
[comment] Jagdish Bhagwati, professor of economics & law, Columbia Univ. & senior fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, in Financial Times

Foes of free trade get a foot in the door [USA]

The agreement on trade between the Bush administration and the Democrats in Congress, announced on May 10, takes the demand for the integration of labour standards in trade treaties up a notch... [The] compromise to insert stronger protection of labour rights into US trade deals has dangerous implications for world trade... [The] developing-country trading partners of the US are generally opposed to the inclusion of labour (and other non-trade-related) requirements in trade treaties, agreements and institutions... The pursuit of labour standards in US politics today reflects not altruism and empathy, but fear and self-interest... Democrats...[in] Congress...[argue] that competition with countries with lower standards [is] harmful to the working and middle classes in the US. But this fear is not justified by facts... [The] strategy followed by labour lobbies has been to get a toe in the door, then another and another... [In] the proposed compromise, the ILO standards are to be demanded.