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Now that the U.S. Senate has voted in favor of the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), it's in the hands of the House of Representatives. And that's where the real battle is because many Democrats oppose trade agreements in general and some Republicans are balking at supporting CAFTA-DR.

So what's their complaint about CAFTA-DR? Some say CAFTA-DR will lead to the elimination of jobs in the United States while others are supporting the U.S. sugar industry's claims that the trade agreement will cause of a flood of sugar imports.

But those arguments fall short, said Constance Jackson, OFBF's vice president of agricultural ecology.

"There’s no arguing that we’re competing in a global market so people need to start thinking in terms of being regionally competitive," she said. "For example, the high-tech expertise of the United States complements the low labor costs of some CAFTA countries. We do what we’re good at, they do what they’re good at and together we become more competitive with other regions of the world. It’s the old cliché of we either hang together or we’ll hang alone."

Jackson noted that the Bush administration has already made some concessions to the sugar industry and that an analysis by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) shows CAFTA-DR's impact on the industry would be minimal.

If passed, CAFTA-DR would eliminate most tariffs between the United States and Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. More than 99 percent of these nations’ products already enter the United States duty-free under other agreements, according to AFBF. Right now, U.S. agricultural exports face tariffs as high as 43 percent.

The bottom line is that CAFTA-DR would benefit agriculture because U.S. exports are projected to increase by $1.5 billion per year after full implementation in 2024, Jackson said. Ohio's agriculture would see a $23 million per year gain.

Not passing CAFTA-DR would be a major setback for U.S. trade policy, creating the impression that the United States is becoming more protectionist and making it more difficult to conclude the latest round of World Trade Organization talks, Jackson said.

"If we don't pass CAFTA, then it will be fairly clear to other countries that we've got an anti-trade sentiment," she said, noting that the United States already has fewer trade agreements than many other countries.

OFBF has been emphasizing the benefits of CAFTA through lawmaker contacts, opinion pieces and letters printed in newspapers and news releases. Last month, OFBF board members traveled to Washington, D.C. to talk to Ohio members of Congress and urge passage of CAFTA-DR.