Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
In trading terms, the US, it is true, is Malaysia’s biggest single country market. The total value of our exports to that country stood at RM110.56 billion in 2006. Since the FTA bestows a preferential trading position upon Malaysia, it is hoped that the volume of trade especially in manufactured goods will expand.
<P>But an agreement seems unlikely. Those critical questions
which have impeded negotiations for more than eight months now, remain unanswered
after five rounds of talks in Malaysia and the US. Will the FTA allow US agricultural
products to overwhelm the Malaysian market, thus impacting adversely upon our
farming sector? Even if our padi farmers are protected under the Agreement, what
about other sub-sectors, such as poultry farming? We have the example of Mexico
which lowered tariffs under the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) and
consequently opened the floodgates to subsidised corn from the US. It impoverished
at least three million of Mexico’s 10 million farmers. At a time when agriculture
and agro-based industries are being given renewed emphasis in our development
agenda, does it make sense to encourage heavily subsidised agricultural products
from the US to undermine our efforts to build a resilient farming community?</P><P>In
similar vein, should we accede to the unimpeded entry of cheaper manufactured
goods from the US when there is a possibility that it could lead to the closure
of our own factories and the mass retrenchment of our workers? It is estimated
that in Senegal a third of the workers in the manufacturing sector lost their
jobs as a result of an FTA with the US that lowered drastically the West African
nation’s industrial tariffs. In Chile 8% of the industrial labour force was rendered
redundant for the same reason. South Korean critics of their proposed FTA with
the US argue that more than a hundred thousand workers could become unemployed
if an accord was inked between the two states.</P><P>Apart from a loss of jobs,
FTAs have also resulted in the curtailment of a whole gamut of labour rights.
Since the US Establishment is clearly biased towards the multinational and transnational
corporations affiliated to it, there has been a tendency to protect their profits
at the expense of the well-being of workers in the host country. Consequently,
the worker’s right to unionise and his access to other benefits such as health
insurance are sometimes curbed and controlled. Going on the basis of the FTAs
it has already concluded with a number of countries in South and Central America,
it is quite conceivable that the US will impose similar conditions upon Malaysian
workers.</P><P>The US is also seeking equal access to lucrative government tenders
and contracts. The Malaysian government is very much aware of how this will affect
its affirmative action programmes designed to rectify the ethnic imbalance between
the communities. Perhaps even more important, if the government yields to the
US demand, it would unwittingly grant the US a strategic role in the Malaysian
economy.</P><P>The government should also be firm on the vital question of intellectual
property rights (IPR). What the US FTA is asking for goes beyond the IPR obligations
of World Trade Organization (WTO) member states. It would have an adverse impact
upon cheaper generic medicines and make drugs for HIV/AIDS for instance much more
expensive.</P><P>However, more than any of the other negative consequences spelt
out here, the FTA could prove to be a disaster for Malaysia’s service industries.
The US is seeking total, comprehensive access to this sector of the economy which
ranges from banking and finance to telecommunications and audio-visual services.
It wants all limitations on foreign ownership to be removed. This is a demand
that Malaysia will not acquiesce with since certain industries such as telecommunications
are of strategic significance to the nation.</P><P>Neither should the Malaysian
government agree to surrender its sovereign right to impose capital controls if
and when it deems necessary. For the US FTA negotiators the unhindered entry and
exit of equity capital is fundamental to financial liberalisation, the cornerstone
of neo-liberal capitalism. Having been a victim of such capital flows – otherwise
known as "hot money" – in the financial crisis of 1997-8, and having
overcome that crisis partly through the effective use of capital controls, Malaysia
is being judicious and prudent in insisting upon its right to regulate capital
flows.</P><P>A vigilant attitude on our part is imperative for yet another crucial
reason. FTAs are not just about trade and economics. US FTAs in the Middle East
and Latin America reveal that there are larger geopolitical goals at stake. An
FTA with Malaysia, it is quite conceivable, will enable the US to increase its
political leverage with an important Southeast Asian country which is part of
China’s immediate neighborhood. It is a littoral state which has sovereign rights
over the Straits of Malacca, one of the world’s seven most strategic sea routes
– a route which is vital for China’s economic ascendancy. Since Malaysia is determined
to protect its sovereignty and independence, it must ensure that it is not drawn
into a relationship with the US which will jeopardise its own long-term interests
in a region that is destined to be a new centre of global power.</P><P>For all
these reasons, the Malaysian government should continue to put across its legitimate
concerns to the US FTA negotiating team. If due consideration is not given to
these concerns, we should put the negotiations with the US in abeyance. In any
case, an objective cost-benefit analysis of an FTA with the US will show that
Malaysians as a whole will have much more to lose. Which is why we must protect
our interests – and our dignity.</P><P><I>Dr Chandra Muzaffar is president of
the International Movement for a Just World (Just). Comments: feedback@thesundaily.com</I></P><P><i>Source:
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=17110</i>
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com