Sugar trade-deal
exclusion urged
More than 490 of Hawaii's sugar workers and retirees recently signed a petition asking Hawaii's politicians to urge U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to take sugar out of the negotiations to lower trade barriers with allies in Central America.
Proponents of the trade deal, which is slated for a vote this month, say it will allow the impoverished people of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to buy more products from the United States as well as to sell more of their agricultural products in the U.S. market. However, many who are affiliated with Hawaii's sugar industry have said if the agreements include sugar, many local workers will lose their jobs.
The employees of Gay & Robinson Inc., the last remaining sugar plantation on Kauai, sent Hawaii's entire congressional delegation -- U.S. Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case and Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka -- a petition Friday encouraging them to remove sugar from the negotiations. The petition was also sent to Gov. Linda Lingle, who already has asked President Bush to exempt sugar from any free trade agreement.
Gay & Robinson is a member of the American Sugar Alliance and strongly supports price supports and trade barriers, said General Manager Alan Kennett.
Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., which produces Maui Brand Natural Hawaiian Cane Sugars and processes Gay & Robinson sugar, has taken the same stand, said General Manager Stephen Holaday.
"We worry that our way of life will be dramatically impacted if our government continues down this path. Trading good American jobs for jobs in Third World countries that pay substandard wages with little concern for the health and safety of their workers is not right and just not fair," the petition reads.
Sen. Inouye's office received the petition yesterday and has not yet had time to act on it, said spokesperson Marie Blanco. However, Inouye already has expressed his continued support for the sugar program. He met with Zoellick last week to ask him to take sugar off the table in negotiations regarding the Central American Free Trade Agreement, Blanco said.
"Ambassador Zoellick is aware of Sen. Inouye's views on this issue. It would probably be the demise of the sugar industry in Hawaii," Blanco said.
Hawaii's sugar industry still employs thousands of workers who would be impacted by the agreement, Kennett said.
"We've always felt that we could compete on any level playing field with any sugar producing company," he said. "If they took away price supports all over the world, we could compete, but if its just in the United States it would mean the loss of jobs."
The U.S. sugar industry would be best served through negotiations in the World Trade Organization with all sugar-producing countries and not through free trade agreements, said Sandra Lee Kunimoto, chairperson of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture.
"This form of negotiation is necessary because the U.S. sugar industry cannot survive competi- tion subsidized by foreign governments and it provides the opportunity for fair competition in the world market," Kunimoto said.
However, not everyone is in favor of special concessions for Hawaii's sugar industry. Ken Schoolland, an associate professor of economics and political science at Hawaii Pacific University, has contacted Lingle to argue against her support for the sugar program. Schoolland said Lingle should tell the sugar industry it's time to face it's competition or to diversify into other crops or products rather than ask the government to outlaw competition.
"They may stall or put off the day of reckoning for these companies, but they will have to face it someday," he said.