Obama urged to press Congress to pass FTAs

Obama urged to press Congress to pass FTAs

Obama

   President Obama is under pressure from trade groups to make good on his State of the Union promise to address the outstanding free trade agreements negotiated between the United States and Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
   'Global trade and the pace of international business require that the United States be aggressive in seeking new markets to sell American goods and services,' said Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, in a May 10 statement, marking the third year since the Democratic Congress and former Bush administration agreed to a bipartisan framework for America's trade agenda. 'As our competitors seize opportunities to expand market share in these countries — displacing U.S. farmers, ranchers, service providers and manufacturers — we are standing still.'

Reinsch

   Reinsch said while the May 10, 2007 agreement is not perfect, including the provisions that weakened intellectual property rights protections for U.S. firms, it did provide a bipartisan framework for proceeding on the U.S. trade agenda.
   'We either seize this moment to increase exports and maximize job creation, or we continue to see our market share decline as competitor nations gladly take our seat at the trading table,' Reinsch warned.