House CAFTA vote a close call

Rep. Bob Inglis has heard from the president, the president’s Cabinet, his colleagues, his constituents and businesses in and out of his district.

The South Carolina Republican knows how they all want him to vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), a pact with fierce advocates and opponents who are trying to sway a few undecided House lawmakers.

“It’s an intense situation. It’s surely the most lobbied measure since I’ve been back in Congress,” said Mr. Inglis, a soft-spoken legislator who served from 1993 through 1998 and rejoined the House last year.

CAFTA would have little impact on the U.S. economy, but it has become a politically charged test for the Bush administration and an important battle for industries and interests that stand to prosper or suffer if the agreement becomes law.

CAFTA would bind the United States, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to a set of rules covering trade and investment. The Senate approved it last week. A House vote is expected after the Independence Day recess, which ends Monday.

The House vote is too close to call. Forces for and against CAFTA have been using their time to help the undecided — fewer than 15 Democrats and 30 Republicans — decide.

“I’m up there [on Capitol Hill] every single day. And … we have a grass-roots effort in every state in the country,” Christopher Wenk, director of international trade policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, said last week. NAM supports CAFTA.

“It’s just good, old-fashioned nose-to-the-grindstone lobbying,” said Lloyd Wood, spokesman for the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition. AMTAC opposes CAFTA.

There are few arguments that lawmakers have not heard. But some are waiting for answers to specific CAFTA-related questions, for commitments on specific trade-related issues or for promises that may have little apparent connection with the legislation at hand.

The Bush administration has struck deals with lawmakers from sugar-producing states and offered to budget several million dollars for stepped-up labor rights monitoring in CAFTA countries. Both efforts won over undecided senators.

Mr. Inglis wants the administration to guarantee that the Central American countries will not become an unintended gateway for textiles and apparel from China. Such a loophole would hurt manufacturers in his district.

The administration promised “to seek an amendment” to CAFTA that would close any loophole allowing Chinese fabric into the U.S. via Central America. That was enough to win some support, such as that of Sen. Elizabeth Dole, North Carolina Republican, but Mr. Inglis wants the amendment in place, not just the promise.

“I’ve been very careful to plant the goal post and not move it,” Mr. Inglis said.

Republicans are likely to target China in an effort to win CAFTA votes. Several members want the administration and Congress to confront the Asian nation over a variety of issues that contribute to a rising tide of imports that compete against American manufacturers.

“I think you are going to see there are a number of members who have interest in that. And I think you will see a strong package come out ahead of the [CAFTA] vote,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, Texas Republican and the administration’s CAFTA point man in the House.

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