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Obama, Clinton Flaunt Trade Hypocrisy

1:01 PM, Feb 29, 2008 • By BRIAN FAUGHNAN
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Yesterday the Senate unanimously approved legislation to extend favorable tariff treatment to 4 Andean nations:

The Senate cleared legislation Thursday that would renew trade preferences for four South American countries, just a day before their scheduled expiration.

The measure (HR 5264), which passed by voice vote, would extend duty-free treatment for most goods from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru through the end of 2008. The current extension, enacted in 2007 (PL 110-42), expires Friday...

The Andean bill would reduce revenue from customs duties by an estimated $82 million in fiscal 2008 and $37 million in fiscal 2009, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

I thought that Senator Clinton favored a 'strategic pause' in trade agreements? I thought both she and Senator Obama were deeply concerned about the negative effects of expanded trade on U.S. workers? Why were they absent when the Senate voted to extend favorable tariff treatment to 4 countries, with low-wage workforces, all of which have trade surpluses against the United States?

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