South American footwear leader puts free trade anomalies under the spotlight
In a recent address to the Latin-American Leather and Footwear Industry Chambers, Carlos Bueno, president of CICA – the Argentinean Chamber of the Footwear Industry – warned shoe making on the continent could become extinct if steps are not taken to create a more equitable environment.
Speaking in relation to the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), Mr Bueno said: If "we do not analyse the terms of the agreement in depth and negotiate them to everybody's benefit, we could become trapped in a ‘scam’ leading future generations to a situation of hopelessness.
According to Mr. Bueno, the FTAA includes 34 countries or rather 33 countries and the USA – with the latter accounting for 75% of the region’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This clearly showed who had the greatest bargaining power, said Mr Bueno.
One of the points raised was the US doctrine that investment in the Americas should be driven by the private sector. The fact that few indigenous businesses in Latin America had the resources to invest had left the field wide open for the big multinationals, Mr Bueno said.
He said further that because the ‘Rules of Origin’ under the FTAA referred to the source of the investment and not the manufacturing process itself, the door had been left open to the large number of Asian manufacturers that are US-financed. There were now able import into the FTAA area, but not attract import duties, he said.
Both the USA and the European countries subsidise their agricultural products, Mr Bueno continued. Quite reasonably, they do not want their farmers migrating to their cities where they would be unemployed. However, the situation was far less defensible with regard to their industrial subsidies, as the main interests being protected were those of a few powerful groups had the technological advantage and who in any case quite capable of defending themselves without their government’s help.
“We must unite to negotiate and defend our industry and Latin-American labour as well as develop the Latin-American footwear industry further,” Mr Bueno asserted.
“In the Americas, annual shoe consumption amounts to 3,200 million pairs, of which only 1,200 pairs are produced locally. This means that 2,000 million pairs are imported, mostly from China and the rest from South-East Asia. To arrest the situation, a fairer, more equitable situation must be created,” he continued, “one where Certificates of Origin are based on source of manufacture, not source of investment.”
“Today, Latin America sees unemployment and poverty levels grow relentlessly. The badly negotiated terms that currently exist can only bring more illiteracy, poorer standards of public healthcare and education and fewer opportunities for growth. The FTAA should benefit all the countries in its membership, not just the few.”
