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Does anyone have a good guess or solid information as to whether CAFTA might remove duties on personal vehicle importation from the U.S. into Costa Rica (should Costa Rica sign on)?
First… I do believe that if Costa Rica signs on to CAFTA, there will be trouble. The CAFTA is all for BIG business in the USA. Corporate America has control of the government.
You can read the full CAFTA at:
http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/CAFTA/CAFTA-DR_Final_Texts/Section_Index.htmlIt is a sad state of the World at this point in time. The New World Order is coming.
Sadly
Bill MaesIt’s my understanding that it will not… But, NOBODY that I know – and I have tried very hard to find an ‘expert’ in CAFTA – can give me clear explanations about the pros and cons of the whole treaty.
One person will know about ‘pharmaceuticals and health care’ and another’ will talk about ‘agriculture’ but nobody understands the whole thing.
The other problem/complaint I hear is that what the CAFTA agreement says in English does not always say the exact same thing in the Spanish version.
If I don’t understand a legal agreement 100% – I would not sign it but, as one of my dear Costa Rican friends and attorneys explains: “We’re screwed if we do sign it and we’re screwed if we don’t!”
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comPS. If there are any CAFTA experts reading this, PLEASE contact me.
I am a licensed customs broker and so deal with these agreements all the time. Until these things are put into practice, there will be no perfectly clear idea as to what and how many provisions will be eventually implemented. Changes are made as the kinks get ironed out. There may be specific provisions or concessions just to have CR come on board. Currently, U.S. manufactured items might enjoy an 80% reduction in tariffs and the remaining 20% would be phased out over a 10 year period. Vehicles were not specifically listed and that may be because the tariff schedule won’t be final until parties sign off. Even if vehicles are given a reduced rate, CR may decide to attach a value added tax after importation which could match the current 79% of used value.
And I thoroughly agree with the comment above that corporate interests rule just about every aspect of this hemisphere’s economic affairs. I am far from knowledgeable on economic matters, but I sense that any trade agreement with a country which fosters a corporate welfare system like the U.S. is bound to be harmful in the long run for the other signatories. I do not trust my government at all in anything. It is being directed by greed and conquest as has been the case historically. From a purely selfish perspective, a CAFTA agreement which makes importations into CR easier would be a plus.
For the average Tico worker, I am fearful this will prove to be a burden.I share all of sprite’s sentiments above. I’m trying to recall an instance in which the current Bush Administration instituted any new policy which benefitted average Americans more than it benefitted those few at his economic level. When you project that orientation one level farther, to the faceless masses in Central America, and when you consider who on the American side was doing the negotiating, I have very grave concerns for the welfare of average Costa Ricans.
As to the cost of importing cars, the Tico Times or A.M. Costa Rica has reported that the current tax is defined in Costa Rican law as a sales or use tax rather than as an import duty. CAFTA does not regulate any country’s ability to level domestic taxes.
I challenge anybody to read that CAFTA agreement and tell me what it says…
Bloody legalese BS that NOBODY except a trained ‘international treaty’ lawyer is expected to understand. You and I are not expected to understand it, in fact they do not want us to understand it.
I bet you there’s less than five people in the entire country that knows exactly what this CAFTA agreement is all about.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com“I bet you there’s less than five people in the entire country that knows exactly what this CAFTA agreement is all about.”
Scott, you didn’t specify which country above but….
I’ll bet those five are U.S. customs lawyers….So I guess the question is which side is winning the P.R. battle down there with the voters? Personally, if I didn’t understand what I was voting for, and it was something “new” , I wouldn’t vote for it. How are the average citizens down there who actually have to decide how they’re going to vote leaning? I hear there’s lots of money on the Pro-CAFTA side, and lots of influence starting with the President. Does the other side have the money or influence to offset it?
Labor unions and student groups, at least, seem to be solidly against CAFTA. There have been a couple of protest demonstrations in San Jose that drew enough people that it was wise to avoid downtown that day.
Five intelligent people of the Pacheco administration looked at it, (Committee of Notables) including Franklin Chang, NASA Astronaut and Costa Rica’s developmental head for part of NASA’s plasma engine. They came away with no real opinion because they had difficulty with it. If these guys, and I believe there were five, couldn’t figure it out, how would anyone else.
I have not read it and most likely will not. For the life of me I can’t figure out why Arias would want to put his country in a position that is so unclear as to make any effort to get any advantage with this agreement virtually impossible. It must be so filled with legalese and other loopholes that any thing can be justified, in trade regulations, on the fly. And we know who will come out on top.
Costa Rica may be in a position of being screwed by either signing or not. At the very least, the terms should be worded in plain language so the electorate that has the responsibility of voting on this agreement will be able to make a somewhat informed decision.
My feeling, if you can’t understand it, renegotiate it, if you can’t renegotiate, simply don’t sign.Don’t know if it’s true or not but that reminds me ….
“It is important to note that no member of Congress was allowed to see the first Patriot Act before its passage, and that no debate was tolerate by the House and Senate leadership.”
“Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex) told the Washington Times that no member of Congress was allowed to read the first Patriot Act that was passed by the House on October 27, 2001.”
It’s a wonderful world isn’t it?
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comI read an interesting letter posted on a CR blog called “abroadincostarica”. He gives his perspective of being a tico visiting the US and makes some comparisons US/CR. He describes himself as a middle class Tico working for a US company. He mentions CAFTA and states that although he really doesn’t understand it, he is leaning towards voting yes. He says he is afraid that since “everyone” else has signed on he suspect CR will somehow be hurt if they don’t.
Pretty scary link, Scott. I wonder if in fifty or so years what any country will be like? Globalism has certainly changed the way governments operate. Fear seems not only to have a grip on citizens, but its leaders as well.
Society is evolutionary, and it never goes back to what it once was. Incremental erosion of rights are not noticed until you look at them years later from a historical perspective.
Costa Rica, by having its citizens vote on CAFTA(TLC), will have allowed its own government to get off the hook if the agreement turns out to be a bad thing. Certain things require the best minds a country has to decide what is beneficial for its future generations. I think many will be voting blind on this deal and not really understanding the implications of what will become of their country.
When a government, any government, abdicates their responsibility to govern, the people should question why they did elect them to office in the first place.“Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man. There has never been a really good one, and even those that are most tolerable are arbitrary, cruel, grasping and unintelligent.” H. L. Mencken (1880–1956), U.S. journalist. Minority Report: H. L. Mencken’s Notebooks, no. 68 (1956).
“Government is an evil; it is only the thoughtlessness and vices of men that make it a necessary evil. When all men are good and wise, government will of itself decay.” Percy Shelley (1792–1822), English poet. An Address to the Irish People (1812). These sentiments reflect those expressed in Thomas Paine’s Common Sense (1776).
“Every country has the government it deserves.” Joseph de Maistre (1753–1821), French diplomat, philosopher. Letter, Aug. 1811.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comDemocracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.
– Winston ChurchillI’ve read many biographies about the American presidents, and the Argentine Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Many have started with dreams and ideals to form the better and more perfect government. In all cases they suffered from the same human condition we are all born to. The frailties of man will always lead to imperfect governance.
There isn’t much else we can do as a people but continue to try to make government more responsive to our needs. It may never happen, but we must dust ourselves off and keep the pressure on our elected officials to do better.
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