[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16652]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  DR-CAFTA IMPLEMENTATION LEGISLATION

  (Mr. LINDER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Dominican 
Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, also known 
as CAFTA. While CAFTA countries also enjoy duty-free access to U.S. 
markets for the majority of their products through U.S. trade 
preference programs, these countries often have high tariff and 
nontariff barriers for U.S. exports.
  Under CAFTA, barriers to U.S. exports in these countries would be 
drastically reduced. More than 80 percent of U.S. consumer and 
industrial exports and over half of U.S. farm exports to Central 
America would become duty-free immediately with the agreement's 
enactment, and the rest would be phased out over time. CAFTA would also 
benefit the State of Georgia, which I represent, by providing new 
market access for our State's products.
  CAFTA will also help the U.S. and CAFTA countries compete with China, 
a growing economic force in the world market. Seventy-one percent of 
apparel from CAFTA countries currently enters the United States using 
U.S. yarns and fabrics, while only one-tenth of 1 percent of apparel 
from China enters the United States using U.S. yarn or fabric.
  Mr. Speaker, this body must pass CAFTA and give the United States the 
same access to the markets in South America that they have to ours.

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