In contrast to Arias’s belief that DR-CAFTA will revitalize Costa Rica’s stagnant economy and modernize public services and infrastructure, oppositional forces at both parliamentary and street level see ratification as imposing a perverse and unequal competition in which transnational corporations are granted special mechanisms to protect their interests while national protection measures for the people and countries involved are actually reduced and where the winners are those with the cheapest labor costs and lowest levels of human and environmental protection.
This competition could prove to be especially perverse in Costa Rica, where, on account of its higher social indices, particularly its minimum wage and workers rights, the country may lose out not only to giant US investors but also to competition from surrounding less developed countries, with their lower standards and costs.
Opposition leaders have openly stated that they do not object to expanding trade with the US per se, but that what they want is a renegotiation of the agreement or the drawing up of a ‘new kind of deal - preferably bilateral’, that takes into consideration Costa Rica’s particular advantages with respect to its neighbors. However at this stage, with no foreseeable alternative on the table, the implications of not signing may be just as serious. Retaining tariffs will put the country at a competitive disadvantage on the global market, important companies including Sardimar – a large scale tuna producer and exporter – and Melones de Costa Rica, have already threatened to pull out if approval is not reached, and now that other countries involved have ratified Costa Rica has very little negotiating power.
Opposition leaders have openly stated that they do not object to expanding trade with the US per se, but that what they want is a renegotiation of the agreement or the drawing up of a ‘new kind of deal - preferably bilateral’, that takes into consideration Costa Rica’s particular advantages with respect to its neighbors. However at this stage, with no foreseeable alternative on the table, the implications of not signing may be just as serious. Retaining tariffs will put the country at a competitive disadvantage on the global market, important companies including Sardimar – a large scale tuna producer and exporter – and Melones de Costa Rica, have already threatened to pull out if approval is not reached, and now that other countries involved have ratified Costa Rica has very little negotiating power.
