The Congress of South African Trade Union’s (Cosatu) suggestion that South Africa should maintain high trade barriers for the purpose of developing its export sectors — purely because that is how developed countries did it in their day — is ludicrous, says the official opposition Democratic Alliance.
The party’s trade and industry spokesperson, Pierre Rabie, said in a statement on Monday that Cosatu’s “predictable tit-for-tat response to the difficulties facing the successful conclusion of the all-important Doha round of World Trade Organisation negotiations is sorely misplaced”.
Rabie, a veteran MP, said: “Cosatu is asking South Africa to bury its head in the sand and to ignore changing global trade conditions.
“The moral imperative that a more equitable global trading system is given priority over the maintenance of the trade advantages currently being enjoyed by the richer nations of the world is very important.”
However, the increasing tide of the globalisation of trade is a structural fact and not something that weak coteries of developing economies will be able to turn successfully through protectionism or complicated sector-based interventions.
“Experts agree that if developing countries attracted additional trade to the value of a mere 1% of annual global trade, then it would already alleviate the plight of their unemployment levels greatly. Maintaining high trade barriers will not attract additional trade even to this modest level, thereby ensuring the developed world’s continuous dependence on the aid of richer nations,” he argued.
Important home-grown initiatives, such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) had already achieved some success in putting openness to trade with developing countries on the global trade agenda.
“For Cosatu to use global platforms such as the recent International Confederation of Trade Unions gathering in Brussels to argue in the opposite direction only serves to undermine these advances.
“Increased access to trade is what will save the developing world from further impoverishment and dependence. The poorer countries of the world need to assert themselves strongly and in a united manner in this respect.” — I-Net Bridge