Lawmakers rally against Cafta

Add a few more Republicans to the growing congressional opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
More than two dozen lawmakers from both parties issued populist warnings about Cafta's brutal effect on U.S. manufacturers at an anti-Cafta rally Wednesday. They pledged to defeat the treaty, which was negotiated by the Bush administration and needs only Congress' approval to take effect.
Cafta would eliminate tariffs on a number of manufactured goods imported to and exported from Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, to encourage trade with those nations.
But Cafta foes contend that multinational corporations will be encouraged by the agreement to take advantage of cheap foreign labor and will lay off U.S. workers. These opponents predict Cafta will compound U.S. trade deficits with the other signatory nations, and point to growing trade gaps in the aftermath of Cafta's North American sister, the North American Free Trade Agreement.