Anti-WTO activist: Govt ‘sugarcoating’

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

An anti-World Trade Organisation (WTO) activist has accused the Government of “sugarcoating” its benefits, urging it to instead pursue a bilateral trade deal with the US.

Paul Moss, a leader of Bahamians Agitating for a Referendum on Free Trade (BARF), told Tribune Business that it “doesn’t make sense” for the Government to expose “infant” Bahamian industries to a rules-based trading regime where it will be bound to the same regulations as large, developed economies.

He argued that local businesses needed more time to develop and prepare for international competition, and said opening up local industries to the physical presence of foreign firms from multiple countries would limit the “participation of Bahamians” as owners of their economy.

Rather than full WTO membership, Mr Moss called on the Minnis administration to instead secure a trade agreement with the US, which is by far The Bahamas’ largest trading partner conducting $4bn worth of combined export and import business annually with this nation.

“The Bahamas seems to have a penchant to get into trouble by signing on,” he told this newspaper. “The Government has to be careful not to put the country in the mix from which it cannot recover.

“Many people, and those promoting it, do not know what WTO is about. It will not allow The Bahamas the opportunity to develop itself. Stay out until we develop infant industries that can grow organically and compere. This only is a benefit to developed countries, not developing countries like ours trying to develop itself.”

Whether The Bahamas has already given “infant industries” sufficient time to develop at the expense of consumer seeking access to lower-priced goods, and if it is now time to reverse that situation, was a question posed recently by former Bahamas Bar Association president, Dr Peter Maynard.

Still, challenged by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and others to provide an alternative to WTO membership, Mr Moss argued that The Bahamas should pursue the bilateral - as opposed to multilateral - route.

“The alternative path ahead is to seek a bilateral trade agreement with the US,” he told Tribune Business. “That’s our greatest partner, neighbour and, starting out, we ought to pursue and protect that.

“It makes no sense to put The Bahamas into a big group where one size fits all, one rule fits every country. The Bahamas is a very small nation looking to develop itself, and being subject to the same rules as the US, China and other large countries makes no sense. We have to develop this country so Bahamians have an opportunity to participate in their own economy.”

Mr Moss pointed to the concerns expressed by Abaco Big Bird, the Bahamian poultry producer, over WTO-related pressures for The Bahamas to further reduce tariffs in this area as an example of the fate that could befall other industries reliant on tariff protection to remain price competitive.

WTO opponents have already been accused of spreading misinformation about what full membership means for this nation and its impact, with suggestions that it will force the Government to privatise all public services and result in an influx of foreign workers coming to take Bahamian jobs.

Mr Moss, though, turned this in its head, telling this newspaper: “The misinformation is coming from thew Government. The Government is trying to sugarcoat this thing by saying The Bahamas can have access to all these overseas markets if we join the WTO.

“The Bahamas has access now. They’re trying to sugarcoat it and make it so glowing and inviting to our people, saying you’ll have access to 164 countries, people all over the world and can sell to them. There are Bahamians that cannot sell things today in our market and its limited space.”

One of the touted benefits from WTO membership is that it would solidify the “rules of the game” for Bahamian exporters to access foreign markets, and vice versa for foreign and domestic investors doing business. The increased certainty and predictability, at least in theory, would boost economic activity and job creation in The Bahamas.

Meanwhile, arguing that Bahamians would be disadvantaged in a WTO environment, Mr Moss added: “There are members of the WTO that have had access to capital for many, many years. You juxtapose that against a Bahamian company that has to have everything and their grandmother to get a loan or advance from a lending institution in The Bahamas.

“It does not put them on an equal footing. Foreign companies can borrow in US dollars at lower rates; we have to borrow in Bahamian dollars and can’t compete internationally. It’s really dangerous with the Government not thinking about how to address the country’s future.

“Bahamians have been disadvantaged for so long that it will take many years to put them on a sound footing to compete with these giant multinationals.”