| In the lexicon of modern
warfare, the F-117 Stealth Fighter, the Tomahawk Cruise
Missile, and the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank stand
out. However, the most potent weapon in the vast U.S.
arsenal is arguably the Free Trade Agreement. It is
fast becoming the weapon of choice for the Bush Administration
in its fight against the economic conditions that
breed despotic regimes and international terrorism.
It has been said that the cheapest war is far more
expensive than the costliest peace. It is in this
logic that the wisdom of the Free Trade Agreement
initiative can be found. Each newly minted FTA reduces
the chance that a conflict requiring the commitment
of the aforesaid weapons systems and the brave Americans
who operate them will occur within the borders of
the signatory nation. The Bush Administration is fighting
to secure the future well-being of countless men,
women, and children across the globe by aggressively
pursuing Free Trade Agreements.
The equation for the success of the FTA initiative
is simple. Countries populated by people with food
on their table, gainful employment and educated children
are much less likely to go to war or become failed
states than countries without any of these basic human
requirements.
By way of example, the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement,
which was signed on October 24, 2000, and entered
into force on December 17, 2001, has increased Jordanian
exports to the U.S. by 72% and U.S. exports to Jordan
by 14%. Jordan exported close to $500 million in goods
to the U.S. in 2002, compared to only $13 million
in 1999. The lives of many Jordanians have been bettered
by the increase in the number of skilled jobs and
the reduction in unemployment created by the Free
Trade Agreement.
The Trade Act of 2002 reinstated Trade Promotion Authority
(TPA) for the President after an 8-year lapse, and
re-established the ability of the United States to
credibly negotiate comprehensive trade agreements.
TPA ensures that agreements will be approved or rejected
by the Congress, but not subjected to the time-consuming
amendments of the past. Singapore, which signed a
Free Trade Agreement on May 6, 2003, and the Kingdom
of Morocco are the first two beneficiaries of the
streamlined TPA process.
The U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement is actually
the first bilateral trade agreement to be negotiated
entirely under TPA. A comprehensive and rapidly concluded
agreement would send a strong signal to the world
that the momentum for trade liberalization in the
United States has been regained.
A U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement could dramatically
increase the quality of life for the people of Morocco
as well as the bottom line for U.S. firms that make
or have already made the strategic decision to establish
a presence in Morocco.
Because of Morocco’s special standing with the
United States and with the other nations of the Middle
East and North Africa, a U.S.-Morocco FTA should have
enough impact to demonstrate to other developing countries
the strategic importance and benefits of achieving
a bold agenda of multilateral trade liberalization
in the current World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha
Round negotiations. The World Trade Organization (WTO)
was in fact founded in Marrakech, Morocco, in April
1994.
On May 9, 2003, President Bush announced the intention
of the United States to create a U.S.-Middle East
Free Trade Area by 2010. The completion of a U.S.-Morocco
Free Trade Agreement by the end of 2003 is one of
seven goals that must be met to ensure the initiative’s
success. "Across the globe, free markets and
trade have helped defeat poverty, and taught men and
women the habits of liberty,” President Bush
said in announcing the plan. The establishment of
a U.S.-Middle East Free Trade Area will “bring
the Middle East into an expanding circle of opportunity,
to provide hope for the people who live in that region."
A U.S.-Middle East Free Trade Area and the planned
Free Trade Area of the Americas are only the initial
building blocks of an eventual interlocking global
network of free trade agreements capable of ushering
in an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity that
will render forces of instability and intolerance
such as al-Qaeda extinct. |
