{"id":4420,"date":"2009-06-09T14:17:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-09T11:17:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-12-14T19:05:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T17:05:48","slug":"epalestine-is-us-israel-free-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/2009\/06\/epalestine-is-us-israel-free-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement Harming America? Myths Versus Facts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear friends,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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President Obama has much he could do right at home to address Israeli intransigence…starting with this Free Trade Agreement with Israel.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Add to this the news that U.S. to Drop Spy Case Against Pro-Israel Lobbyists<\/em><\/strong> (http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/05\/02\/us\/politics\/02aipac.html?_r=2&em) and a troubling picture starts to take shape.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

Actions are the ultimate barometers of progress,<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Sam<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

—<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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PR Newswire  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Jun 1, 2009 11:06 ET  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Is the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement Harming America? Myths Versus Facts  <\/strong><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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WASHINGTON, June 1 \/PRNewswire-USNewswire\/ — The US-Israel Free Trade Area (UIFTA) became law in 1985, but ongoing violations of American intellectual property rights and trade laws are fueling heavy losses of American jobs. As the US economy declines many are trying to separate myths from facts about America’s first bilateral trade agreement:  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Myth: The US Israel Free Trade Area (UIFTA) delivers "mutual benefits".  <\/em><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Fact: Since 1985 US trade with Israel shifted from a surplus to a cumulative $71 billion deficit (adjusted for inflation). The $7.8 billion US deficit with Israel in 2008 equals 126,000 US manufacturing related jobs. UIFTA is the only bilateral pact producing multi-billion dollar losses to the US every year over the last decade.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Myth: UIFTA is supported by US industries and associations.  <\/em><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Fact: During 1984 negotiations seventy-six leading American companies such as Monsanto, Dow Chemical, Sunkist, Hunt-Wesson Foods and organizations such as the AFL-CIO, American Farm Bureau and the US Bromine Alliance testified against the UIFTA. Only seventeen organizations — most with no direct economic stakes — testified in favor. More recently pharmaceutical, agricultural and other industry associations have continued to lobby against unfair Israeli trade practices.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Myth: The 1984 UIFTA negotiation process was open and fair.  <\/em><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Fact: The FBI investigated how the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) obtained the classified government negotiation report. In 1984 the Washington Post reported that the "report would give Israel a significant advantage in the trade talks because it discloses how far the United States is willing to compromise on contested issues. Some of the proprietary information, moreover, could help Israeli businesses competing with U.S. companies." The Washington Post was right — UIFTA and a subsequent epidemic of intellectual property violations cost the US economy billions of dollars.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Myth: The US-Israel Free Trade Agreement strengthens global rules based trade.  <\/em><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Fact: Israel has been on a US violations "watch list" for the past four years. Top industry and government concerns include Internet music and software piracy, industrial espionage targeting US trade secrets and systematized misuse of patented US pharmaceutical innovations by Israeli generic drug exporters in collusion with the Israeli Ministry of Health. Israeli cut diamond exports finance illegal West Bank settlements.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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More about the UIFTA at: <\/span> <\/font> http:\/\/www.irmep.org\/UIFTA<\/u> <\/span> <\/font> <\/a>   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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The Washington, D.C. based Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy is an independent nonprofit that studies US policy formulation toward the Middle East.  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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Source: Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy  <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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CONTACT: Grant Smith of IRmep, +1-202-342-7325 Web Site: <\/span> <\/font> http:\/\/www.irmep.org\/<\/u> <\/span> <\/font> <\/a><\/p>\n

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Copyright © 2009 PR Newswire Association LLC. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

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———————————————————————–<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

ePalestine Blog:<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.epalestine.com<\/u> <\/span> <\/font> <\/a><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

———————————————————————–<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

Everything about this list:<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

http:\/\/lists.riseup.net\/www\/info\/epalestine<\/u> <\/span> <\/font> <\/a><\/p>\n

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epalestine-subscribe@lists.riseup.net<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friends, President Obama has much he could do right at home to address Israeli intransigence…starting with this Free Trade Agreement with Israel. Add to this the news that U.S. to Drop Spy Case Against Pro-Israel Lobbyists (http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/05\/02\/us\/politics\/02aipac.html?_r=2&em) and a troubling picture starts to take shape.  Actions are the ultimate barometers of progress, Sam — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[936],"class_list":["post-4420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"authors":[{"term_id":936,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"sambahour","display_name":"Sam Bahour","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bca109c333bf6d8ae807746dd512adde46265d37c923f6cd0fc4aab437f8e9aa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"1","first_name":"Sam","last_name":"Bahour","user_url":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour","job_title":"","description":"

Sam Bahour<\/strong> is a Palestinian-American business consultant, writer, and commentator based in Al-Bireh\/Ramallah, Palestine. He is the principal of Applied Information Management (AIM)<\/a>, a consultancy specializing in business development and startup advisory services.<\/p>\r\n

Bahour played a foundational role in establishing two of Palestine\u2019s publicly traded companies: the Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL) and the Arab Palestinian Shopping Centers (APSC). He co-founded Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy (A4VPE), of which he is now an emeritus member, and served as an independent director on the board of Arab Islamic Bank P.L.C. from 2004 to 2025. He currently serves on the board of Just Vision<\/a> and The Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS)<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

He frequently gives talks to delegations visiting Palestine on the subjects of Palestine\u2019s political economy, Palestinian Politics 101, and a general orientation to the state of affairs under Israeli military occupation.<\/p>\r\n

A prolific writer on Palestinian affairs, Bahour has been published in major international outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, Haaretz, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Al Jazeera America, Le Monde diplomatique, Al-Monitor, +972 Magazine, The Hill, and Arab News. He has appeared as a commentator on NPR, CNN, BBC, and other broadcast media.<\/p>\r\n

Bahour is the co-editor of Homeland: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians<\/a><\/em> (Olive Branch Press, 1993) and was profiled in the bestselling anthology Kingdom of Olives and Ash<\/a><\/em>, edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, in a chapter authored by Chabon titled \u201cThe Tallest Man in Ramallah<\/a>.\u201d He holds an Associate\u2019s and Bachelor\u2019s degree in Computer Technology from Youngstown State University, and a Kellogg-Recanati International Executive MBA \u2014 a joint program of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Recanati Business School at Tel Aviv University.<\/p>\r\n

He tweets at @SamBahour<\/a>, blogs at www.epalestine.ps<\/a>, and may be reached at sbahour[AT]gmail[DOT]com.<\/p>"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4420"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epalestine.ps\/sambahour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=4420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}