Free Trade and Relationships

Like it or not, free trade is the cornerstone of our economic system. Each community, each region, each country has a competitive advantage in the production of a particular good or service. In order to have the most efficient utilization of labor, capital and materials, we must allow those competitive advantages to develop within the marketplace.

When obstructionist policies are erected by governments in the form of trade barriers, we create inefficiencies. Occasionally they are necessary due to national security issues. Usually they are erected to protect special interest groups.

Recently, the Democrats in the Senate and House saw fit to kill a Free Trade Agreement with Colombia. The result is higher prices on some goods and services to Americans and less profit for some U.S. businesses who would have a competitive advantage for selling products to Colombia. It is a case where the greater benefits of the agreement would have gone to the U.S. because of import taxes and restrictions on the Colombian end of the agreement.

Colombia has become one of the few good relationships that the U.S. has developed in Latin America in recent years. We have poured many dollars into aiding them in their war against the drug cartels. We need to strengthen that relationship.

We also need to strengthen our relationship with our nearest neighbor to the south. President Bush has attempted to strengthen those ties but it has been difficult. Much of that difficulty lies in the economic unrest within Mexico which drives their citizens to seek employment north of the border (usually illegally). Strengthening the Mexican economy is in our best interest.

I applaud Senator McCain for reaching out to both the Colombian and Mexican governments. As we approach the fall elections we must keep in mind that relationships with our friends to the south are critical to our own future economic and political stability. On the other hand, Obama would like to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement as punitive action against Mexico on immigration. So, McCain would "reach out" while Obama would seek to punish. It is clear to me that Senator McCain is working in our best interests while Obama's actions would only further damage our relationship and rather than aiding the immigration problem, would exacerbate it by the damage to the Mexican economy.