Bipartisan Witnesses Encourage Senators to Adopt FTAs With Latin American Countries
Senators and witnesses called for the adoption of free trade agreements with Latin American countries to stave off Chinese influence in the region through trade, during a March 5 hearing on advancing American interests in the Western Hemisphere.
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Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, hosted the Senate Foreign Relations Committee panel, where they heard from two witnesses, one chosen by each party.
The Democratic choice, Margaret Myers, a senior fellow at the Wilson Center, said that in order to pursue its policy objectives in Latin America, the U.S. must "grow trade where possible." She indicated that America has been in "stasis" on trade for a number of years, but noted that "there are efforts underway to try to think creatively about how these partnerships can be expanded, including through the Americas Act, for example, and through other mechanisms that fall somewhat short of a free trade agreement."
She said that without an expansion of trade in the region it would be impossible to "fundamentally alter the power dynamics at play in the region when China is indeed the top trade partner for so many countries."
Joseph Ledford, a fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution and the Republican's witness, agreed, saying "we should pursue free trade agreements" with Latin American countries. He indicated that the U.S. could secure an FTA with Argentina as "they're certainly seeking one." Ledford also encouraged the Trump administration to "revisit the agreements we currently have." He suggested that the U.S. should remove Nicaragua from the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement.
He told senators that everyone should "encourage the administration to pursue, if possible, long-term, secure, binding agreements" with countries in the region.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., concurred with the witnesses, calling FTAs "a tool that we have ignored as we've looked at those opportunities for investment in Latin America" to counter Chinese dominance in the region.
Ledford, speaking against the current mood in the Republican Party, offered a defense of free trade from a national security perspective: "We're not going to change the balance in the trade dynamics in Latin America vis a vis China in the near term, but if we don't do anything, we will just continue to lose economic ground in our own hemisphere."