International Trade in Services.pdf - DSpace at Khazar University

Increasing Labor Mobility 39
must have the necessary qualification requirements. The United States originally
placed a quota on the number of professionals that could be admitted from Mexico
at 5,500 per year.
Besides NAFTA, the United States has negotiated several other bilateral FTAs
with developing countries. The ones we have selected for examination are outlined
in table 2.3 and include those with Chile, DR-CAFTA (that is, the five countries of
Central America, plus the Dominican Republic), Morocco, Peru, and Singapore.
Bilateral agreements with Colombia, the Republic of Korea, and Panama have
been finalized, but are awaiting ratification by the U.S. Congress.
Under the agreements with Chile and Singapore, concluded in 2002, labor
mobility was expanded slightly for professional workers, and the path to an H-1B1
visa was created. This visa provided for an initial stay of 18 months, but with
unlimited extensions. Furthermore, an annual quota of 1,800 visas for professionals
from Chile was granted, as well as an annual quota of 5,400 visas for professionals
from Singapore, in addition to the fixed total of H-1B visas from all countries.
The new visa category created under these FTAs is meant for temporary
migrants with stays of up to 18 months initially, but with the possibility of unlimited
extensions. In summary, the current provisions governing labor movement in
these three U.S. trade agreements are the following:
• NAFTA: trade NAFTA visa, uncapped for Canadians and Mexicans
• Chile FTA: H-1B1 visa, capped at 1,800 professionals
• Singapore FTA: H-1B1 visa, capped at 5,400 professionals
Opposition in the U.S. Congress to these various arrangements, particularly the
FTAs with Chile and Singapore, was loud and clear. Some congressmen objected
that trade agreements stepped into the realm of immigration matters. As a consequence
of this opposition, no FTA negotiated by the United States since 2002 has
contained a chapter to facilitate the temporary movement of skilled workers. 4 Thus,
the FTAs with the DR-CAFTA members, Morocco, and Peru (like those negotiated
with Colombia, Korea, and Panama) contain no chapter on temporary entry. They
do, however, contain an annex on professionals with objectives similar to those of
the annex under NAFTA. The annexes each state that “no provision shall impose
any obligation on a party regarding its immigration measures,” and the annexes
contain no market-access commitments. Thus, in the United States, public and official
attitudes with respect to labor mobility have regressed since 2002. Until political
opinion changes, it will be nearly impossible for developing countries to negotiate
greater labor mobility in trade agreements with the United States.
In the case of Canada, the situation has evolved differently (table 2.4). Perhaps
because of pressures from the private sector and apparent labor shortages in the