Fair trade vs. free trade
One of the reasons I'm a liberal and not a conservative is the issue of fair trade vs. free trade. The Democratic party is not united on this front, but generally steers towards fair trade. The Republican party is, however, very united on this front. They are staunch advocates of free trade, and make no apologies for it, because in their world this is obviously good business.
Here's the difference in a nutshell. The United States has all kinds of labor and protection laws. Things like a minimum wage, outlawing child labor, OSHA to watch out for unsafe working conditions, and the freedom to form unions. This makes labor more expensive, but makes for a better society, in my opinion.
Fair trade says it's fine to import goods from anywhere, but the workers that produced the goods should have comparable protections. If there are child labor sweatshops used to produce goods, then we should not import them.
Free trade says the cheapest goods are the best for profit, so import from anywhere, and do not question how those goods are made, or the conditions under which they were made.
Case in point - Cambodia. Cambodia is the only poor country in the global garment industry to implement fair labor practices – no sweatshops, a living wage, no child labor, and much more. Because of this, they had been able land good trade deals with the US and their economy boomed. However, Bush and the GOP’s “free trade” policy eliminates fair trade, as the only thing that matters is profit margin. Cambodia is being pressured to reject all of their fair labor practices and reduce costs by paying sub-poverty wages, have laborers work in dim lights, provide poor water, use child labor - basically find any and all ways to increase profit, regardless of its effect on workers and society.
For more depth on this example, check out this This American Life
broadcast.
Here's the difference in a nutshell. The United States has all kinds of labor and protection laws. Things like a minimum wage, outlawing child labor, OSHA to watch out for unsafe working conditions, and the freedom to form unions. This makes labor more expensive, but makes for a better society, in my opinion.
Fair trade says it's fine to import goods from anywhere, but the workers that produced the goods should have comparable protections. If there are child labor sweatshops used to produce goods, then we should not import them.
Free trade says the cheapest goods are the best for profit, so import from anywhere, and do not question how those goods are made, or the conditions under which they were made.
Case in point - Cambodia. Cambodia is the only poor country in the global garment industry to implement fair labor practices – no sweatshops, a living wage, no child labor, and much more. Because of this, they had been able land good trade deals with the US and their economy boomed. However, Bush and the GOP’s “free trade” policy eliminates fair trade, as the only thing that matters is profit margin. Cambodia is being pressured to reject all of their fair labor practices and reduce costs by paying sub-poverty wages, have laborers work in dim lights, provide poor water, use child labor - basically find any and all ways to increase profit, regardless of its effect on workers and society.
For more depth on this example, check out this This American Life
broadcast.
posted by zblog at
10:11 PM
2 Comments:
Friend, your definition of fair vs. free is very american centric (which I suppose it is bound to be)...
Fair trade is more than just importing from places that have the basic elements of a civilized society. Fair should also mean "it makes sense for the US and its commercial partners".
Talking about fair trade (or free trade) and not discuss agricultural subsidies in this country (AND IN EUROPE) or tariffs that hurt the only chance these emerging economies have to pull themselves into the civilized level of society that we so would like everybody to achieve, is as wrong as buying from whoever can produce it cheaper.
And what about immigration? Isn't immigration an aspect of trade too? If the people coming here had decent opportunities - generated by trade - in their own lands, wouldn't we all be much better off?
By
C.E. Lopes, at 8:50 AM
Yup, I'm very American-centric, so I appreciate the input. Government subsidies to all aspects of commerce is a very big component of fair trade. From big ag welfare to disparities in industrial worker conditions, it's all part of the fair vs. free trade debate.
Immigration I wouldn't consider as directly related, but I agree with what I think you're saying - with true fair trade, immigration would essentially cease to be a problem.
By
zblog, at 7:08 PM
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