Free trade? HAH!

I couldn’t have said this better myself, so I’ll let “Yucalandia” — writing on the Mexconnect.com forum (in response to a whiny post about sugar “dumping” in the U.S. by Mexican sugar producers):

Lots of submerged-hidden aspects to America’s rhetoric on the benefits of “Free Trade” and “Free Market” economies:

Photo: salon.com

~ Since 1993, US taxpayers have paid an average of $4 billion a year in tax-$$ subsidies to dump corn onto the Mexican market at artificially low prices, far below production costs. This corporate welfare of over $80 billion taxpayer giveaways to big US agribusiness corporations has bankrupted over 1.5 million Mexican family farms – collapsing local rural economies across Mexico – driving over 10 million Mexicans out of rural areas…. Most of these former rural Mexicans became illegal aliens seeking work in the USA, and others moved into the drug trade.

US “Free Marketeers” using NAFTA-mandated forced-dumping of artificially low-priced corn onto Mexico, have created an estimated 7 million illegal aliens – moving to the USA – as economic refugees created by US taxpayer $$.

When the major root cause of illegal immigration is over $100 billion of US taxpayer subsidies paid to ruin millions of Mexican corn farmers, should the USA focus on building bigger border fences? , or …. should the USA stop bankrupting the Treasury with over $150 billion a year for decades, paid to dump US big agribusiness products onto supposedly “free markets”?

~ US “Free Marketeers” colluding with (inherently-corrupt) Washington politicians have similarly paid US farmers over $3 billion in taxpayer $$ every year to big cotton agribusiness corporations to dump artificially cheap cotton onto world markets at prices below production costs – ruining decades of cotton sales for Indian and African farmers.

Cotton subsidies rack-up another $60 billion of US taxpayer $$ over just 20 years, purposefully ruining rural farm families and farm communities in Africa and India. Over 120,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide after losing their families lands due to Monsanto’s & the US Govt’s predatory practices.

~ Irony? US “Free Trade” advocates and supposed “Free Marketeers”, under the aegis of the “American Sugar Alliance” now ironically accuse Mexican exporters of dumping cheaper Mexican sugar onto the U.S. market. The “American Sugar Alliance” claims Mexican sugar imports could cost U.S. sugar producers nearly $1 billion in net income in the 2013-14 crop year.

Which is better: US government using its power to legally force unfair unbalanced trade onto its poor trade partners – using over $150 billion in US taxpayer $$ to dump artificially cheap ag products onto Mexico, Africa, Brazil, & India – wrecking 10’s of millions of poor family farms? or Mexicans selling their lower-production cost sugar on US markets?

– American Sugar producers use “Free Market” ideology to complain, as the US government spends another $60 million in taxpayer $$ to artificially inflate sugar prices.

Why have the US “deficit hawks” and “Free Traders” (Tea Partiers & Conservative Republicans) stayed silent on these issues?

If we look at simple $$ statistics – as a geography exercise, (nothing political), the data show:
USA – biggest trade bully in the world….
USA – biggest protectionist trader in the world….
USA – loudest advocate for “Free Trade” and “Free and Open Markets” … ( => biggest hypocrites?)

~ USA ! ~ USA ! ~ USA ! ~