Latin trade agreement prospects improving

Latin trade agreement prospects improving    There's apparent bipartisan support in Washington for pending free trade agreements — including pacts for Colombia, Panama, and Peru — after key Republican leaders gave favorable response to a trade policy offered by congressional Democrats.
   'We are on the brink of restoring bipartisanship to American trade policy,' Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., House Ways and Means Committee chairman, said Tuesday. 'The policies we've outlined today should send a clear message that this Congress wants trade, but we want trade that works for all Americans.'
   The trade policy released through the committee by Rangel and Trade Subcommittee chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., calls for the U.S. Trade Representative to require countries to adopt, maintain and enforce basic international labor standards in their domestic laws and practices, and to implement common multilateral environmental agreements.
   Rangel said ranking House Ways and Means Committee Republican Jim McCrery of Louisiana had assured him the Democratic plan did not contain any elements that could not be worked out.
   Meanwhile, Susan Schwab, the Bush administration's trade representative, issued a statement that said, 'We have an historic opportunity to create a path forward at this critical point in U.S. trade policy and I remain committed to a bipartisan solution as soon as possible.'
   The Bush administration has already negotiated trade bilateral trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Peru, and hopes to have them approved by Congress before July 1, when Bush's trade promotion authority expires.
   Representatives from the three nations have also been campaigning to get the trade agreements implemented as soon as possible.