So, will imported cars be cheaper after the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) comes into effect in 2005? Absolutely. No doubt about it.

During the launch of the new Proton models a fortnight ago, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad assured the Malaysian public that imported car prices will not drop under full implementation of Afta.

What will happen is that, although we cannot impose high import taxes, we will impose other taxes domestically, he said.

Under Afta trade agreements, the trade liberalisation will take place in the products of manufacturing and agricultural sectors, where the tariff regime is to be brought in the range of 0 to 5 percent.

This means low or no import taxes, which will reduce the prices of imported cars in the region, including Malaysia.

The whole point of Afta is to liberalise the region's economy. Meaning no more government protection of smaller local industries against the big and powerful multinational corporations.

The fine print is, local governments can no longer impose tariff or non-tariff barriers that could impede the liberalisation process.

Most analysts would say Afta is beneficial to the region's economy and would help in spurring growth locally, claiming that it would help the local economy and local industries in trading between Asean nations.

Proton's woes

A growing dissenting voice with little media coverage disagree.

They believe the trade liberalisation would only help big multinational corporations with factories all across Southeast Asia to trade their goods in the region with no import taxes, and flood out the smaller local competitions.

One of the small fries in this big Afta sea swarming with multinational giants is of course Malaysia's own Proton.

In the domestic pond, Proton is a major player, with bigger sales compared with the more internationally renowned car companies. Proton is competitive on account of the government's protectionist measure, that is, the high import taxes imposed on imported cars.

Afta will level the playing field in our country by ensuring that local governments no longer intervene in trade matters, impose taxes or any other protectionist measures under the rule of trade liberalisation.

Mahathir claimed that other forms of taxes will be imposed on imported cars along with local car manufacturer, Proton.

These taxes will be imposed on both the locally produced and imported cars. This means there will no longer be any protection for local car manufacturers.

The thing is, that this most probably won't happen.

Other forms of taxes or any other forms of government intervention are considered either tariff (tax) barriers or non-tariff barriers under the agreements of Afta.

So no tax of any form, and no intervention of any form by the government for that matter, lest Malaysia wants to be trade sanctioned.

The government and Proton are obviously pressed to a corner in dealing with the Afta situation, as conceded by International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz.

"We are working on the measures, not necessarily tax measures but measures that need to be parallel with those of tax measures".

She said the matter had yet to be decided by the government, adding that Malaysia had another two years to fully work on them.

This sure sounds like the government and Proton are stuttering in figuring out how to go one up against the might of international car makers in a tax-free Malaysia come 2005.

The Star reported: "Rafidah explained that the tariff reduction, as agreed under Afta, was meant for the import of cars from Asean countries and not the import of cars from countries outside Asean."

Whoops! There goes the minister's poor patch-up PR job in benefit of Proton again.

Under the Common Effective Preferential Agreement (CEPT), products affected by the Afta agreements are those with at least 40 percent of its content originating from member states.

It says cars manufactured in Asean countries with 40 percent content originating from member states; it does not say that western-based cars are not affected by Afta.

Big players

Now here's a piece of news some of you might not know and the minister conveniently forgot. Thailand, that kingdom of smiles, has quite a few major car manufacturers producing at its border. Among them are top players like Mitsubishi, Isuzu, GM, AAT and BMW.

Now these multinational companies will be waiting for 2005 with bated breath considering they could flood Asean countries of a combined population of 500 million with their tax-free, cheaply produced, technologically more advanced, made-in-Thailand cars and simply sweep the competition away.

Among them is of course Malaysia's own, shivering with cold sweat, Proton.

The infant company that is Proton is only a major player within its borders thanks to the government's protectionist measures. Now the child will have to face mammoth car corporations on a level playing field, in which the tiny one is almost certain to lose.

Note the almost in the last sentence because we don't know for sure how the government and Proton will deal with the Afta situation, and 2005 is still two years away.

Now before you start salivating and saving up for that brand new turbo-charged BMW and thank your lucky stars for Afta, it's worth noting how the global economic mechanism works and affects our lives.

International car companies with plants in Asean countries will benefit tremendously under Afta and the losers are all the infant industries in these countries trying to build up their capacity for competition.

The cheap imported cars most probably wouldn't last forever. Once they dismantle the local competition, leaving only the powerful in the race, there's absolutely no reason for the international car makers to stay cheap for too long.

The price will most probably skyrocket once the monopoly is in place.

If one wants to draw a parallel, we can look at what happened with the Intrakota bus service once all the bus companies in KL were consolidated into the former.

Not long after the consolidation, Intrakota fares were hiked up over 100 percent.

The other aspect of liberalisation that doesn't receive much media coverage is the layoffs and lost livelihood of workers.

David and Goliath

It is worth remembering that trade liberalisation doesn't only cover the automobile industry but the whole spectrum of trade including agriculture, manufacturing, financial and investment.

Now it will be Proton's production workers who will feel the sting of Afta once the tariff barriers are removed. Loss of domestic sales for the company will translate into loss of jobs for its employees.

. In the agricultural sector, there are reports claiming local family farmers are losing the battle under the neoliberal trade rules. Family farmers can no longer sell their produce locally because international agribusinesses with big plantations can sell their produces cheaper in retail than our local farmers could sell wholesale.

Now how did this happen? It was trade liberalisation of course.

The lowering of import taxes and all-out liberalisation in every aspect of the economy has not helped regular working folks. Big agribusinesses with their big plantations, big outputs and little cost could simply overwhelm the production capacity of small farmers and sell their produces cheaper.

It's like a David and Goliath scene unfolding right before our eyes, and poor David doesn't even have the slingshot to defend himself. It's obviously a losing battle.

Loss of livelihoods in the countryside might precede a massive migration of workers and farmers into the congested handful of urban centres around the country looking for low-wage jobs and living in urban slums.

It could easily change the dynamics of people's lives and the socioeconomic situation of our communities.

Proton and cheap cars might be the issue people are talking about right now, but cars are only small actors in a bigger global economics theatrics.

Afta is a regional trade initiative moulded along the neoliberal model, and neoliberalism is all about the commodification of public services, public spaces, public utilities, workers, environments, our labour and our time.

In short, neoliberalism commodifies everything under the sun, leaving no room for sharedand communal spaces, free and accessible for everyone.

The WTO demon

Here's another crucial bit of information that may be of interest: It's funny that with all the brouhaha surrounding Afta and Proton, Afta really doesn't matter that much in the global scheme of things.

Forget Afta because it's only a regional trade agreement between Asean nations. Afta is actually a rather small fry itself. The real 500 hundred pound gorilla hanging over our heads or it's not a stretch to say, the axis of evil is not Afta but the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

WTO will simply overrule all the Afta policies and for that matter, local government policies too.

WTO and all its super-rich fat cats in top hats convening in Washington or New York or Doha are the ones who will be deciding our future and how we're going to live our lives in years to come.

It's no longer local legislators or local governments in respective developing nations who will decide their own national policies; but complete strangers (very rich complete strangers).

These strangers will decide how we're going to shape our policies, how we're going to allocate our money and how we're going to live our lives.

Sounds a little too sinister, doesn't it? A tinge of conspiracy theories, a mite X-Files-ish too?

Of course WTO is a whole different story and we're running out of space today, so do watch this non-privatised public space in the future.

FAIZAL TAJUDDIN went to an art school for a while but quit when he found out it was grooming advertising hacks rather than nurturing creative works. His new joy is operating digital videocams, which he is putting to good use at the Women and Workers Independent Media and Training Centre (Wimtec) where he works. They are currently working on a short video on globalisation.