Kudos to Fred Barnes for his remarks about the Central America-Dominican Republic-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in "We Could Be In for a Lurch to the Left," (op-ed, Nov. 4), which rightfully takes umbrage with those who do not support this important trade agreement.

By its very nature Cafta is designed to eliminate tariffs and trade barriers and expand regional opportunities for the workers, manufacturers, consumers, farmers, ranchers and service providers of all the countries. In fact, Cafta eliminates tariffs on more than 80% of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products. Eighty percent of Cafta imports already enter the U.S. duty-free. It's shortsighted for labor or anyone in Congress not to recognize the benefits of Cafta to the U.S. economy.

Neal Asbury
CEO, Greenfield World Trade
2008 SBA Exporter of the Year
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Mr. Barnes is particularly disheartened by the prospect of labor's new power in Washington. He is, of course, correct to be concerned. If we don't watch out, big labor will soon be calling for the bailout of whole industries to protect jobs and employment benefits. Oops, sorry! Management of some of our largest industries has already called for such bailouts. Industry has stolen the march on the lurch to the left before the "liberals" could even get started.

Julie Jetton
Princeton, N.J.

I completely agree with Fred Barnes who writes: "A sharp lurch to the left and enactment of a liberal agenda, or major parts of it, are all but inevitable." When that happens, all Americans will be better off.

The Supreme Court will gain respectability with newer, younger members. Unions will again rebuild the middle class. The U.S. military will carefully and thoughtfully leave the Middle East. Thank goodness for that because that will provide more money for domestic issues. Liberal ideas will sweeten the sour conservative economy. Education at all levels can look at a brighter future.

Robert Wesolowski
The Villages, Fla.

Mr. Barnes's thesis is that "for decades" American politics has been played "between the 40 yard lines," but now, after the election, it will be played at the Democratic Party's end of the field.

For most of the past decade, the Republican Party controlled all three branches of the federal government. It has not been what I would call politics at the 50 yard line.

Even after a Democratic Party landslide the Republicans still will dominate the federal bench, and will control at least half of the Supreme Court for another generation. Moreover, conservative ideology has dominated political discourse since 1980. We will need a long period of Democratic rule to fully drain the poison from the body politic.

Richard Joffe
New York

Click here to see this article on the Wall Street Journal

On Thursday, December 4th, The Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration Sandy K. Baruah will appear live during The Neal Asbury Show on WZAB-AM880 between 11:00 A.M. until Noon. Asbury, the show’s host and Small Business Administration’s United States National Champion Exporter of the Year will be exploring “The SBA’s Support For Increasing American Exports” with Administrator Baruah. Sandy K. Baruah was designated Acting Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration on August 15, 2008. Baruah, who is pending Senate confirmation as SBA Administrator, has served in the Bush Administration since 2001. Prior to SBA, he was the Assistant Secretary for Economic Development at the Department of Commerce, and comes to SBA with a keen understanding in how to promote local business growth, manage organizational change, and respond to federal disasters.

Baruah helped lead significant accomplishments for EDA, including the agency’s induction into the Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame, passage of EDA’s Congressional reauthorization, the agency’s inclusion in President Bush’s Executive Order which established the Preserve America Initiative, and achieved the second-highest effectiveness ranking from the White House’s Office Management and Budget. Prior to joining President Bush’s team at the Commerce Department, he spent seven years with a Portland, Oregon-based corporate management consulting firm. As a business consultant, he worked on engagements with clients such as Walt Disney World, Intel, Key Bank and Citizens Bank. Sandy Baruah’s previous government service includes work with U.S. Senator Bob Packwood and service to President George H.W. Bush, with positions in the office of the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Baruah holds a B.S. from the University of Oregon and earned an M.B.A. from Willamette University.

Over the past two years Asbury has published over 50 articles on global trade issues, been quoted in The New York Times and has appeared on network television nationally and internationally discussing important trade issues. Asbury’s asburysworld.com blog is quickly becoming a favorite online destination for visitors who share his dismay at today’s global business environment for U.S. exporters. His advocacy has taken him to address the United Nations at the Commission of Trade and Development, Capitol Hill to lobby on behalf of important trade agreements as well as frequent speaking engagements at Universities and Trade Associations. The Neal Asbury Show will be streamed live on line at WWW.880THE-BIZ.COM. WZAB-AM 880 is affiliated with Bloomberg Radio and CNBC and broadcasts live from Coral Gables, Florida.

In July of 2006 Sean Spicer was appointed Assistant United StatesTrade Representative for Public andMedia Affairs within the ExecutiveOffice of the President of the UnitedStates. As a member of the seniorexecutive service, Sean is the Administration’s point person for creat-ing and implementing the domesticand international media strategy ontrade related matters. On a daily basishe works with senior Administration officials and media outlets worldwide.Prior to his time at USTR, Seanwas served in the leadership of the U.S.House of Representatives as theCommunications Director for the Republican Conference where heoversaw the message and communi-cations planning and training of Republican members of Congress andover 220 press secretaries.Sean has done stints at theNational Republican Congressional Committee, House Budget Committee,House Government Reform Committee, Congressman Mark Foley,Congressman Mike Pappas, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
His media experience also extends intopolitical campaigns where he servedas spokesman and media advisor forseveral local and congressional races.

Sean previously was elected by his peers to serve as the presidentof the Republican CommunicationsAssociation and has taught mediarelations and on camera skills to US and foreign national government andmilitary officials. National Journal named Sean one of the most influen-tial staffers on Capitol Hill in 2003 andhe was profiled in the Almanac of the Unelected in 2006.Sean has been a leadingsource for national and internationalreporters and has worked with and been by quoted by every major newssource in the US. He has appeared onNational Public Radio, AgriTalk,Marketplace Radio, Voice of America,CNBC, Al-Jeezera, Fox Business News, Reuters TV and Bloomberg TV. He has done media events on every continent in the world including Antarctica,China, India, Brazil, Ghana, Geneva and Moscow.Sean, a commissioned officer in the US Navy, also has almost adecade of experience in military pub-lic affairs planning and execution. In 2004, he was elected to represent Virginia in the Electoral College. Sean and his wife Rebecca live in Alexandria, VA. The Neal Asbury Show tackles key trade issues every Thursday from11:00 AM until Noon WZAB-AM 880.The show is streamed live on line at WWW.880THEBIZ.COM, which is affiliat-ed with Bloomberg Radio and CNBC.

Appearing on the Neal Asbury Show on WZAB-AM today, United States Trade Representative Ambassador Susan C. Schwab warned listeners that the European Union is aggressively negotiating several free trade agreements that will give Europe a significant competitive advantage over U.S. exporters. The end result of these negotiations and the inability of the Congress to vote on pending trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama, will be the loss of millions of American jobs.

Described by Asbury as the person who is “tirelessly fighting for market access for American exporters,” Ambassador Schwab recently returned from the Mid-East where she was working to open markets for U.S products and services. She was also addressing other key issues, including intellectual property, government procurement, telecommunications, the environment and labor rights. Ambassador Schwab reminded listeners that in the 14 countries where U.S. exporters enjoy free trade agreements, their revenues are up 40% over countries where the U.S. does not have free trade agreements.

In short, when the U.S. can play on a level playing field, it directly benefits small and medium-sized exporters that make up 97 percent of all U.S. exporters. Part of the discussion centered on the South Korean free trade agreement, where U.S. citrus exporters have paid $250 million in tariffs that could have been eliminated had Congress voted on the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS-FTA). In Colombia, U.S. exporters have paid $1.3 billion in tariffs that could have been eliminated if the U.S. - Colombian Free Trade Agreement had been voted on by Congress.  Ambassador Schwab noted that since more than 90 percent of Colombian products coming into the U.S. are duty free, U.S. exporters should enjoy a reciprocal agreement with Colombia. Ironically, Colombia supports the agreement and is willing to eliminate most tariffs.

Although NAFTA has been under attack since the day it was passed, Ambassador Schwab said that it is short-sighted not to recognize the benefits of NAFTA.  Today, Mexico imports more U.S. products than China and Japan combined.  Canada by a long shot is America’s biggest trade partner.

Ambassador Schwab asked listeners to get more involved in the process and demand that Congress agree to an “up or down” vote on the Colombia, Panama and South Korea trade agreements so that U.S. exporters can save billions of dollars in tariffs and can create millions of U.S. jobs.

The Neal Asbury Show tackles key trade issues every Thursday from 11:00 AM until Noon WZAB-AM 880.  The show is streamed live on line at WWW.880THEBIZ.COM, which is affiliated with Bloomberg Radio and CNBC. 

On Thursday, October 30th, United States Trade Representative Ambassador Susan C. Schwab will appear live during The Neal Asbury Show on WZAB-AM 880 between 11:00 A.M. until Noon.  Asbury, the show’s host and Small Business Administration’s United States National Champion Exporter of the Year will be exploring “An Update on the American Trade Agenda” with Ambassador Schwab.

Ambassador Schwab was nominated to be United States Trade Representative (USTR) by President George W. Bush on April 18, 2006, and was confirmed as USTR by the United States Senate on June 8, 2006.  As USTR, Ambassador Schwab is a member of the President's Cabinet and serves as the President’s principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on trade issues.  From October 2005 until her confirmation as U. S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Schwab served as Deputy USTR. 

The Office of the USTR is responsible for the development and oversight of U.S. trade policy, including strategy, negotiation, implementation and enforcement of multilateral, regional/bilateral and sector-specific trade agreements.

 “I have long admired Ambassador Schwab’s negotiating skills in addressing important  trade agreements such as the ongoing Doha Development Agenda multilateral trade negotiations, as well as the seventeen Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to which the United States is currently a party.  During her tenure, Ambassador Schwab successfully concluded bilateral FTAs with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea,” said Neal Asbury, who is president of Greenfield World Trade in Ft Lauderdale, Florida that exports American made products to over 130 countries around the world.  “Her vision on future trade agreements will give listeners a roadmap for the trade issues they should be following as the U.S. seeks to regain its world export leadership,” added Asbury.

Over the past two years Asbury has published over 50 articles on global trade issues, been quoted in The New York Times and has appeared on network television nationally and internationally discussing important trade issues. Asbury’s asburysworld.com blog is quickly becoming a favorite on-line destination for visitors who share his dismay at today’s global business environment for U.S. exporters.  His advocacy has taken him to address the United Nations at the Commission of Trade and Development, Capitol Hill to lobby on behalf of important trade agreements as well as frequent speaking engagement at Universities and Trade Associations. The Neal Asbury Show will be streamed live on line at WWW.880THEBIZ.COM.  WZAB-AM 880 is affiliated with Bloomberg Radio and CNBC and broadcasts live from Coral Gables, Florida.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted January 1st, 1994 between the United States, Canada and Mexico creating the largest free trade zone in the world. It is by far the most important piece of trade legislation ever passed by Congress. It is also the most misunderstood. Traveling to Mexico City prior to NAFTA was a completely different experience than today. The Metropolitan Cathedral and Zocalo (central plaza) built over the ruins of Montezuma’s Aztec Templo Mayor and the grand boulevard of Paseo de la Reforma, its fountains and monuments beautifully colored with a multitude of flowers belied the dull, dismal veracity of one of the largest cities in the world. Despite the grandeur of another era, a sullen emptiness permeated the thin, polluted air.

It was quickly apparent that this was not a city of entrepreneurial energy. It takes only a few short moments when arriving in a country to determine whether it is “open for business.” Mexico was in a thick cocoon, self spun and nearly impregnable. This was a country dominated by an oligarchy left behind by the Spanish, reflecting Spain’s long-held devotion to wealthy officials and connected institutions.

Before NAFTA there were few importers of American products. Most American exporters had more customers in tiny Puerto Rico than Mexico. Mexico proudly posted a “No Entry” sign at the border, imposing import duties exceeding 40% on American products, coupled with endless bureaucracy and barriers. The banking system was rife with cronyism that sufficiently snuffed out any sort of entrepreneurialism. The oligarchy monopolized the financial institutions, essentially freezing out foreign competition. Banks collected deposits to finance and subsidize the projects and investments of their aristocratic owners. They rarely loaned money to those outside the ruling elite.

Ordinary Mexicans trapped in a downward spiral frequently saw their life savings slowly and sometimes rapidly disappear through the devaluation and depreciation of the Mexican Peso. The oligarchy increased their wealth by investing in monopolized industries and foreign assets. The result has always been the same; the rich get richer and the rest die poor.

Each October over the past five years our company hosts a gala dinner for our Mexican customers at the Hacienda de los Morales in Mexico City. The Hacienda de los Morales was part of the original land grant bequest to Hernan Cortez in 1526 by the King of Spain. It was initially intended by the Spanish Conquistadors to be a gargantuan silk worm enterprise to replace trade with volatile China. Silk at the time was one of the worlds most sought after commodities. “Morales” derives its name from the “matas de mora” berry tree that was abundantly planted to nourish silk worms and provide sites for the worms to lay its larvae. Our Mexican clients arrive to the old colonial building impeccably dressed, in good cheer and always respectful. It is an evening of flowing tequila and sangria, great food and bellowing mariachis.

I am gratified to witness how favorably Mexicans respond to doing business with Americans. The rhetoric of our media paints a picture of discord at all levels. This could not be further from the truth. Out of the 130 countries I do business, there is no more enthusiastic reception for our products than Mexico.

Throughout the evening I listen to stories of growth and success… of new and expanding opportunities for American products being sold to every corner of the country.

The best thing, however, is to see young entrepreneurs excited about the future. Each year there are an increasing number of entrepreneurial endeavors being launched and nurtured. This level of activity was impossible before NAFTA. It brings light and hope to all of us.

The benefits of NAFTA have been consolidating. Since 2000 our deficit on manufactured goods and agricultural products with Canada and Mexico (our first and third largest trading partners respectively) has grown just $3.5 billion. Compare this to China over the same period where our deficit has grown $173 billion or fifty times greater on less than half the volume of trade. What the anti-NAFTA advocates have been hiding or are not smart enough to realize is the increase in our NAFTA deficit since 2000 is directly tied to U.S. imports of oil and gas from Canada and Mexico. Canada is our largest supplier of crude oil whereas Mexico is neck-and-neck with Saudi Arabia. Our staggering trade deficit in oil and gas is an energy policy problem, not a free trade problem.

With an open market, playing by established rules, American exporters excel. This is still a fragile process that must be protected. American businesses have provided Mexican entrepreneurs alternatives to the oligarchy and they have responded with overwhelming support for American goods and services. The largest bank and retailer in Mexico today is American owned. American companies play important roles across the Mexican economy. American investment and entrepreneurial zeal has been the genesis of a new Mexican revolution that is creating millions of jobs on both sides of the border.

The Democratic political elite avow they are going to “fix” the evils of NAFTA or “opt out”. Astonishingly this is the same rhetoric the ultra-left wing Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador used when discussing NAFTA during the 2006 Mexican election. He came within a hair of winning. Lopez-Obrador openly campaigned for taking Mexico out of NAFTA and aligning it closer with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and other radical leftist Latin American governments. This would have been a disaster for Mexico, the United States and the region.

Now Senator Obama, Democratic members of Congress and their labor union allies are clamoring for the same thing. Do not be fooled. We must all know the truth about NAFTA. Mexico is “Open for Business” with U.S. exporters, and NAFTA is the key to success.

Each Thursday from 11:00 A.M. until Noon, global trade and its impact on all aspects of ourlives and economy will be the front-and-center topic during Neal Asbury’s radio talkshow on WZAB-AM 880 The Biz. Asbury, the Small Business Administration’s United States National Champion Exporter of the Year for 2008 is a nationally and internationally rec-ognized expert onfree trade issues. Expectsome strong opinions relating to America’scurrent trade imbalances, mixed with somesound advice to reinvigorate U.S. exports. “Politicians and main stream media are talking about the economy. You know what they’re not talking about? Solutions to America’s staggering and unsustainable trade deficit that would generate millions of American jobs,” said Asbury, who is president of Greenfield World Trade in FtLauderdale, Florida that exports American made products to over 130 countries around the world. “On my show, we’re getting into the economic issues that most people aren’t talking about. I’ll help bring light to the dark side of conversations about exports and trade.” Over the past two years Asbury has published over 50 articles on global trade issues, been quoted in The New York Timesand has appeared on network television nationally and internationally discussing important trade issues. Asbury’s asburysworld.com blog is quickly becoming a favorite on-line destination forvisitors who share his dismay at today’s global business environment for U.S.exporters. His advocacy has taken him to address the United Nations at the Commission of Trade and Development, Capitol Hill to lobby on behalf of important trade agreements as well as frequent speaking engagement at Universities and Trade Associations. The Neal Asbury Show is a production of Atlantic Radio Network (ARN) and will be streamed live on line at WWW.880THEBIZ.COM. WZAB-AM 880 is affiliated with Bloomberg Radio and CNBC and the Neal Asbury Show will broadcastlive from the ARN studios in Coral Gables, Florida."

In the old Wild West, the way for the sheriff to keep peace in his town was to pull out his Colt six-shooter.  In today’s Democratic controlled Congress the way to keep peace with constituents is to pull out their ordnance of tax increases to shake down our businesses.  Both of them can inflict great pain.

The U.S. may have a lost a step or two as the world’s leading economic power, but when it comes to taxing our corporations until they flee our shores and taxing the rich until there are rich no more, America is clearly at the front of the line. Consider this. Nearly half of our states when combining federal and state income taxes already lead the world in the highest corporate tax rates of any industrialized country.  If Iowa, Pennsylvania and Minnesota were countries they would be the top three highest taxed in the world. Massachusetts, Alaska and New Jersey would be four, five and six. Twenty-four U.S. states have a combined corporate tax rate higher than top ranked Japan. Thirty-two U.S. states have a combined corporate tax rate higher than third ranked Germany. Forty-Six U.S. states have a combined corporate tax rate higher than fourth ranked Canada.

All fifty U.S. states have a combined corporate tax rate higher than fifth-ranked France. Higher taxes are obviously not the answer. They will only propel jobs and wealth away of America. It does not matter if our taxes were quadrupled; there is not enough money in America to bring redemption to the multitude of social problems inflicting our world. 

The solution is an expanding tax base. If you had to put your finger on the best way to expand America’s tax base, it would start with reversing our trade deficit.  Our trade deficit is once again tracking to exceed $800 billion. It is widely believed that market barriers, manipulations and distortions cost the United States $500 billion annually. I personally believe it is much more. The corporate taxes paid on these lost sales assuming a 12% pre-tax income and a 40% federal and state combined tax rate would be $24 billion per year. That’s just the beginning. Some $500 billion in manufacturing would employ roughly 3,500,000 Americans making on average $30,000 per annum or $100 billion in salaries. If we assume a 35% federal and local personal income tax rate this would generate $35 billion per annum in taxes. Also think of the millions of our citizens that would have healthcare coverage.

In addition there would be roughly $350 billion in material purchases and other operating expenditures from American vendors that pay corporate taxes and employ millions more paying personal income taxes. All of this can be invested in our failing schools, crumbling infrastructure and renewable energy. We would finally be able to do something about poverty alleviation instead of feebly railing against its immorality. So why can’t we reap the dividends of this influx of taxes for the U.S.?  The answer is that many American companies are overtaxed, forcing them to put perceived profits ahead of what is best for America by sending jobs overseas. Enormous profits are being made by foreign manufactures off the U.S. economy as a result of skewed and unjust trade relations that openly discriminate against American companies and workers. These foreign corporations and their employees pay taxes to their home governments providing the vital resources needed to develop their countries.

Meanwhile, American companies employing overseas workers are paying taxes to foreign governments, many of whom are despotic and openly Anti-American.  We are aiding and abetting a despicable crime against every American worker and tax payer. If we are to restore confidence in the U.S. financial structure, it shouldn’t rely on having U.S. taxpayers bail out failed lending institutions. It must start with Congress removing the chains and shackles that bound America’s entrepreneurs by demanding comprehensive trade agreements with all our trading partners and especially China, Japan, India and Brazil. By allowing American companies to fairly compete, we can expand our tax base by putting more American workers to work – tax-paying workers.  Let our exporters generate profits overseas, but with American labor so that the tax base stays here, along with the jobs. We have come a long way from the Wild West, but todays stick ‘em up politicians are not keeping the peace because they are shooting at the wrong targets.

For two weeks while watching the Olympic Games the world glimpsed into the most polluted country on earth. The athletes competing outdoors were breathing a lethal cocktail of dust, contaminants and poisonous gases that attack the immune system causing respiratory disease, heart failure and cancer. The air in Beijing is so thick with toxic particles and soot emitted from the outdated coal-fired power plants nearby you can taste a searing sensation in the back of your throat.  Don’t be fooled by the temporary improvement in the air quality during the Olympics when virtually all factories were shut down and cars were prohibited near the Olympic venues. The air will return to its pre-Olympic state almost immediately. 

It’s now official; China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2). The setting of this world record should be no surprise. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) recently released its report for 2007 showing China accounted for 24 percent of global CO2 emissions compared with the United States at 21 percent. Carbon dioxide is the main heat-trapping gas produced by human activity that causes global warning. 

It is now predicted by 2030 China’s CO2 emissions will equal the entire world’s carbon dioxide production of today. As if the impending catastrophe gathering in our atmosphere is not terrifying enough, this is only one aspect of the rape of our planet thrust upon us for the purpose of economic competitive advantage. To know the magnitude of environmental disdain gone mad, take a journey with me to China’s neighboring countries. 

It was fascinating to witness the transformation of South Korea leading up to the 1988 Olympics. Overnight Seoul shrugged off its backwater, under-military siege mentality to morph itself into a glamorous city of glass towers, expansive parks and high fashion. The towering buildings of Yoido and Gangnam-ku, Olympic Village and the promenade and beautiful bridges along the Han River are truly remarkable. 

Even the rowdy hot spots of Itaewon were reinvented into a respectable enclave of nightclubs, restaurants and shopping complexes. Itaewon is at the center of Seoul and about a mile outside the American military base, Yongsan, the headquarters for the U.S. military presence in South Korea. During the day international visitors to Seoul would wander the labyrinth of alleyways bargaining for high quality knock-offs of Louis Vuitton, Channel, Gucci and any other luxury brand you can think of. At night it once was a soldier’s paradise of well deserved R&R. 

In keeping with South Korea’s ’88 Olympics induced respectable make-over, the knock-offs were banished underground. The girlie-bars with names like The Cadillac Bar, Love Cupid and The Texas Club all suddenly disappeared in a manner that only a domineering patriarchal government so common in Asia can so effectively pull off.  

Seoul has come so far since the ’88 Olympics despite having the million-man army of North Korea, armed to the teeth and on a hair trigger, just thirty miles from its northern gate. The frequent check points randomly set up along Seoul’s streets and highways manned by South Korea’s military are a distant memory. The high profile presence of the U.S. military in and around Seoul has vanished. It no longer feels like a city under siege as it did just a short time ago.

However Seoul today is a city under vicious attack. China has unleashed upon it a deadly wave of airborne pollutants known as “yellow wind”.  These massive dust storms engulf the region, especially prevalent in the spring. The dust mixes with billions of tons of carbon dioxide and other pollutants that China emits each year into the atmosphere. Most of China’s emissions come from its coal-fired electrical generation plants and furnaces. China brings on line on average one coal-fired power plant every week. It is their stated policy to do so for years to come. These plants are quick and cheap to build. They use antiquated technology developed prior to World War II. These plants have a lifespan of seventy-five years meaning they will be spewing out death and destruction for decades to come. Already China burns more coal than the United States, European Union and Japan combined. 

For many weeks each year Seoul is covered in a yellow toxic haze. School is cancelled and people are told to stay indoors because of a multitude of health risks. Acid rain pours down poisoning lakes, rivers, forests and crops. Yellow wind swallows up the entire Korean peninsula and most of Japan. 

Numerous scientists believe this phenomenon will accelerate and continue to worsen impacting the western United States within a decade. Others suggest the effects of yellow wind can already be detected as far away as Kansas. .  

 The deforestation of China’s north and northwest provinces has created a large, desert wasteland. Decades of timber exploitation, slash and burn farming techniques and population growth has resulted in desiccation or the elimination of water resources as plant life disappears, rainfall shrinks and lakes disappear. More than fifty percent of China’s land is either arid or semi-arid, mostly the result of man-made activities.

Recently I stood on the 23rd floor of a downtown Seoul office building. In the middle of the day I could barely see the silhouettes of buildings nearby. The sun was blotted from the sky. The people outside scurried about with white masks covering their faces as if attacked by biological weapons. A thick grimy dust coated everything. No matter how hard and often you scrub you can never make it go away. Let this be a stark warning to the citizens of San Francisco, Seattle and Portland. 

The ecologically sensitive tropical rain forests of Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of Borneo) and Sumatra are rapidly disappearing, by no small measure resulting from America’s demand for cheap Chinese furniture. As China has destroyed forever much of its forests, they have turned to Indonesia where corrupt officials are plentiful and ready to plunder its resources for a price. After the forests have been illegally cleared of its valuable timber they are set on fire to make way for sprawling agricultural estates. These fires often burn out of control for weeks until the monsoon rains arrive. A highly toxic, thick black cloud covers the region. More than 150 million people in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and southern Thailand are impacted; the air unfit to breathe leading to long term healthcare problems.  

Borneo is undoubtedly one of the most important habitats of wildlife in the world. It is one of only two places on Earth where orangutans, elephants and rhinoceros can be found. There is believed to be thousands of plant and animal species still undiscovered. It is unthinkable but many of these species will become extinct before we ever knew they existed.  

Since the mid 90’s when China’s economy kicked into high-gear, nearly five million acres per year of Indonesian tropical rain forests have been destroyed for their timber. This is an area about half the size of the Netherlands. As a result pygmy elephants, clouded leopards, gibbons, orangutans, sun bears and rhinoceros are just a few of the species hovering on the edge of extinction.

It would be irresponsible to believe the wanton destruction of China’s environment and the surrounding region is their problem alone. It is sheer idiocy to suggest American trade policies towards China have not contributed to the greatest environmental meltdown in the history of our planet. It is time to fess up. Over thirty percent of Chinese emissions are a direct result of exports for consumption by the United States and the European Union. The destruction of Southeast Asia’s tropical rain forests is rife with our fingerprints. We have been willing participants in these horrific crimes. 

The Kyoto Protocol, the global-warming treaty that excludes and forgives China, is not the answer. China, India and Brazil have no obligations other than to monitor and report omissions. China’s increase in omissions over the next ten years will surpass by five times the decreases the Kyoto Protocol seeks from the industrialized world. To make matters worse India is right behind China in the construction of outdated coal powered plants.

The answer must be enshrined in a comprehensive U.S.-China Free Trade Agreement. Under the present arrangements of our bilateral trade, China can not continue to grow its economy without plunging the world into an environmental abyss. Trade with the United States must be conditioned on environmental protections that are strictly enforced and monitored by American scientists. Our most recent Free Trade Agreements negotiated with Colombia, Korea and Peru include strong language on the environment. We must go much further with China.  No matter what the China pundits and apologists may argue, China will not risk its trade relations with the United States for all the tea in China.

We must convey in the strongest language possible we will no longer be accomplices to these crimes. These are crimes against all humanity. Crimes that is soon to be committed against our own citizens in their yards, streets and playgrounds.