A U.S. Senate vote on CAFTA is possible as early as today. Opponents had scheduled a vigil outside the offices of Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman, but cancelled it after he announced he will vote for the trade deal.

"Despite the devastating effects that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has had on jobs, environmental regulations, and democracy in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, Senator Coleman will support a trade deal that expands that model to six more countries," the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition said. "The vigil planned in front of Senator Coleman's St. Paul office today is now cancelled.

"CAFTA faces formidable opposition in the House, and we CAN defeat it there. In Minnesota, Representatives Sabo, McCollum, Oberstar, and Peterson oppose it. Representatives Kline, Ramstad, and Kennedy support it. First Congressional District Congressman Gil Gutknecht is undecided."

On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee gave its approval on a voice vote to the agreement that the Bush administration signed one year ago with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic (which actually is in the Caribbean, not Central America).

Republican leaders said a full Senate vote could come as early as today. If the Senate acts, the U.S. House of Representatives is likely to consider the trade deal after the Fourth of July recess. Under Fast Track rules, after the package is submitted, Congress has no more than 90 legislative days to consider the agreement.

Opponents say the agreement, which is modeled after NAFTA, does not contain adequate provisions to protect the environment, worker rights or human rights. Groups opposed to CAFTA include organized labor, faith organizations, human rights groups, environmental organizations and others.

In the Red River Valley along the Minnesota-North Dakota border, union workers have joined with sugar beet farmers and sugar industry executives to oppose CAFTA because it would allow an influx of imported sugar that could destroy the U.S. sugar industry.

Coleman, who had been wavering on whether or not to support CAFTA, said revisions to the pact won his support.

"I think it's a very, very good deal," he said during a Wednesday night news conference. "I hope my friends in the sugar industry reflect on what's best for them."

Under an agreement reached before the Senate Finance Committee vote, sugar imports would be limited through 2007 and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will report on the feasibility of converting sugar into ethanol, a potentially costly option that could allow the U.S. market to absorb more imported sugar.

U.S. sugar producers, however, said they remain steadfast in their opposition to CAFTA.

"We provide low prices for consumers, we operate at no cost to taxpayers, and we're more efficient than other countries, yet our market is being sliced up and traded away to less efficient producers," said Jack Roney, economist for the American Sugar Alliance.

"Every town throughout our sugar beet production area will feel the pinch of CAFTA," said Randy Billmeier, president of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Local 369G, representing workers at the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative in Renville.

"Yes, I do believe that trade is good," notes Billmeier. "Trade is what builds the economies of every country? rich or poor. But it must be fair trade, not agreements that simply permit the dumping of cheap surplus products into our marketplace."

For more information
Visit the Workday Minnesota special section, Trade and jobs
View the new Labor Education Service video, From Field to Factory: Sugar Beets, Trade and the Future of the Red River Valley