Some decisions are downright easy. Should the manager of the San Francisco Giants put Barry Bonds in the lineup tonight? Yes! Should Bonds bunt? No! Should Congress approve the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement?
Bet you weren’t expecting that. Or maybe you were. At any rate, it’s a no-brainer. (If you thought this was SportsCenter, here’s a hint: The answer is yes.) And Congress did.
Decisions don’t come much easier than this one. Increasing trade with Morocco will make Americans richer and help us fight the war on terror. There simply isn’t a good reason to be against it.
This wasn’t supposed to be a banner year for free-trade agreements. They just don’t make much headway during election years. Our next major free-trade pact, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, won’t receive much attention at all--except perhaps from demagogues--until after November 2.
In Mid-July, however, Congress did the right thing and approved the Australia Free Trade Agreement. Strong majorities in both chambers endorsed the deal: The vote in the House was 314 in favor and 109 against; in the Senate, it passed 80 to 16. The arrangement will increase trade with a prosperous foreign country that is also one of our key allies in the world today.
Next was the accord with Morocco, a nation of nearly 30 million people in the northwest corner of Africa. Robert Zoellick, the U.S. trade representative, finalized the deal in March. Last week, both Houses of Congress approved it and it’s on the President’s desk awaiting signature.
He’ll sign it, as well he should. The agreement will give American products better access to an emerging market. Morocco currently imports about $11 billion in goods each year, including about $475 million from the United States, even though these items face an average tariff of more than 20 percent. When it takes effect, virtually all of these barriers will vanish immediately. Those that remain will be gone within nine years.
Farmers are poised to make great strides. One estimate says that U.S. agricultural exports to Morocco will total $382 million by 2015--and that $260 million of this will be attributable to the U.S.-Morocco FTA. Wheat, beef, and poultry producers will benefit the most, but so will exporters of walnuts, grapes, pears, cherries, and many other goods.
Approving the FTA also would advance America’s strategic interests. Last year, President Bush proposed the creation of a Middle East Free Trade agreement within a decade. He understood that this not only makes economic sense--lowering trade barriers assists everybody--but that it also helps us wage the war on terror.
Although the motives of anti-American terrorists are complex and often incomprehensible, economic despair is certainly one of the lethal ingredients. If it weren’t, Osama bin Laden’s henchmen would not have targeted the World Trade Center--a symbol of our economic dynamism--on September 11, 2001.
Free trade fights the despair. The Moroccan FTA is only a small piece of the puzzle. But we’re in the process of assembling many other pieces: We’ve already approved an FTA with Jordan, and one with Bahrain is in the works. Each of these is critical if the goal of a regional FTA is to become a reality.
“Our agreement with Morocco is not just a single announcement, but a vital step in creating a mosaic of U.S. free-trade agreements around the Middle East and North Africa,” said Zoellick, on the day he announced the deal. “Morocco is a good friend of the United States and this FTA sends a powerful signal that the United States is firmly committed to supporting tolerant, open, and more prosperous Muslim societies.”
And here’s an interesting piece of trivia: Did you know that Morocco was the first country in the world to recognize the independence of the United States, which it did in 1777? Or that the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States and Morocco negotiated in 1787, is the longest unbroken treaty relationship in U.S. history?
Today, Morocco remains a friend--an ally in the war on terror and an economic partner of increasing importance.
And Congress, once again or surprisingly (depending on your personal view) did the right thing – at the right time.
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Some decisions are downright easy. Should the manager of the San Francisco Giants put Barry Bonds in the lineup tonight? Yes! Should Bonds bunt? No! Should Congress approve the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement?
