Given the amount of press that has been given to larger free trade agreements like NAFTA and the South Korean free trade agreement, the damaging effects of smaller trade pacts are often overlooked. Passed at the same time as the South Korean free trade agreement were agreements with Panama and Colombia. These  may not cost as many jobs as their larger counterparts, but they continue the trend of putting Americans in direct competition with cheap foreign labor, and the trend of giving American companies more opportunities to hide money in known tax havens.

Free trade with Colombia will mean that Americans have to compete for manufacturing jobs with workers willing–or forced–to work for much less.  The annual earnings for someone earning minimum wage in Colombia totals just over $3,300. While some argue that those wages will come up due to increased business activity, the more likely scenario is that American wages will be pulled down toward that level as workers desperately try to hang on to their jobs.

Colombian wages may also be held down by anti-union violence. Over the past 20 years, 2,754 unionists have been murdered in Colombia. Those responsible are convicted less than 5 percent of the time. Although Colombia has made some improvements in this area, it still means management holds the power to set wages, making it more likely that Americans will be competing against those making extremely low wages.

Panama also poses a problem due to its low wages, but the possibility of corporations and individuals using Panama as a tax haven poses an even bigger problem. There are currently more than 350,000 foreign subsidiaries located in Panama, many of which are located there for the sole purpose of avoiding taxes. The U.S. gave up the right to treat Panama any differently than a country that is not a tax haven, making it easier for these companies to hide their money offshore.  This was all in exchange for access to a very small economy.

These free trade agreements will likely fly largely under the radar as they are instated, but that does not make them any less damaging. Americans have woken up to the reality of free trade, but our politicians have not.  We need to hold our politicians accountable for acting against our best interests.

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