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GUEST: Laura Carlsen, Director of the International Relations Center Americas Program and a columnist for Foreign Policy in Focus. She is based in Mexico

On April 1, four new free trade agreements (FTAs) were put on the table for the US Congress to ratify. These FTAs would establish bilateral trade between the United States and the four nations of Peru, Panama, Columbia, and South Korea, separately. Congress now has until June 30th to decide on each proposal’s passage as per the presidential power of “fast track authority.” However, with a Congress dominated by Democrats who have run under anti-free trade platforms as well as high national disapproval ratings for FTAs, the passage of those FTAs is questionable. FTAs have come under massive criticism for their negative impact on foreign economies, workers’ rights in foreign countries, and for their inability to improve standards of living both at home and abroad. More generally, FTAs are criticized for exacerbating the problem of unequal income distribution in participating countries. In early April a South Korean cab driver set himself on fire to protest the US-Korea FTA.

Read Laura Carlsen’s article, “Moratorium on Free Trade Agreements,” at http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4135.