Candidate Maffei wants NAFTA gone
Syracuse Post-Standard
Mike McAndrew
October 9th, 2008
Hawkins wants its repeal, too. Sweetland says it's time to renegotiate accord.
Surrounded by about 100 labor union supporters, Democratic congressional candidate Dan Maffei called Wednesday for a repeal of the NAFTA because he says it has cost Central New York thousands of jobs.
"Free trade doesn't work," Maffei said at a rally at the United Auto Workers regional office. "We need to throw out NAFTA."
Maffei accused Republican opponent Dale Sweetland of continuing to support the NAFTA pact between the United States, Canada and Mexico, and other free trade agreements, despite job losses in the 25th Congressional District.
Sweetland acknowledged he supported NAFTA in 1993 - the year Congress approved it - because he thought the pact would open new markets for U.S. farm products.
But NAFTA should be renegotiated, Sweetland said Wednesday, because U.S. businesses face stiffer labor and environmental regulations than their competitors in Mexico.
Sweetland said the region's recent job losses, such as the layoffs at auto parts manufacturer New Process Gear, were caused by the rising costs of gasoline and energy, not by free trade agreements.
The North American Free Trade Agreement eliminates trading barriers among Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Retiring incumbent Rep. James Walsh, R-Onondaga - whom Maffei, Sweetland and Green Populist candidate Howie Hawkins are hoping to replace in Congress - voted against NAFTA 15 years ago because he feared it would encourage manufacturers to move from the Syracuse area to Mexico.
But Randy Wolken, president of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York, said NAFTA and other free trade agreements generally have helped U.S. manufacturers. Local manufacturers benefited from increased trade with Canada and some Canadian firms have opened plants here, Wolken said.
Businesses in Onondaga, Madison and Oswego counties exported $1.3 billion in goods to Mexico and Canada in 2006, according to the U.S. Bureau of Commerce.
Hawkins, the third-party candidate in the 25th District race, said he spoke out against NAFTA in 1993 at a protest organized by labor unions outside the James M. Hanley Federal Building. He still opposes NAFTA and thinks it should be repealed, Hawkins said.
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