Obama spells out trade policy conditions

Obama spells out trade policy conditions    President Barack Obama on Friday said using free trade agreements to quickly open overseas markets to U.S. goods is important for economic growth, but suggested his timeline for completing several pending deals is years rather than months.
   Amplifying on his State of the Union speech earlier in the week in which he outlined a strategy for doubling exports within five years and negotiating reductions in trade barriers, the president said stronger enforcement mechanisms are needed so that Americans trust trade deals have tangible benefits instead of worrying whether cheaper imports will put their jobs at risk.
   'So part of what we’ve been trying to do is to make sure that we’re getting the enforcement side of this tight, make sure that if we’ve got a trade agreement with China or other countries, that they are abiding with it — they’re not stealing our intellectual property or making sure that their non-tariff barriers are lowered even as ours are opened up. And my hope is, is that we can move forward with some of these trade agreements having built some confidence — not just among particular constituency groups, but among the American people — that trade is going to be reciprocal; that it’s not just going to be a one-way street.'

Obama

   Obama's comments came in response to a question from Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois following an address to the House Republican Caucus at its issues retreat in Baltimore, Md.
   Congress has not moved to approve free trade agreements negotiated by the Bush administration with Panama, Colombia and South Korea because of Democratic concerns about environmental and labor standards, or, in the case of South Korea, whether restrictions on U.S. beef and auto parts would be lifted. U.S. business interests have clamored for quick ratification, saying the deals would boost exports.
   The president highlighted the urgency of improving trade relations with South Korea and other countries, but stopped short of promising immediate steps to achieve that.
   'South Korea is a great ally of ours. I mean, when I visited there, there is no country that is more committed to friendship on a whole range of fronts than South Korea. What is also true is that the European Union is about to sign a trade agreement with South Korea, which means right at the moment when they start opening up their markets, the Europeans might get in there before we do,' Obama said.
   So we’ve got to make sure that we seize these opportunities. I will be talking more about trade this year. It’s going to have to be trade that combines opening their markets with an enforcement mechanism, as well as just opening up our markets. I think that’s something that all of us would agree on. Let’s see if we can execute it over the next several years.' ' Eric Kulisch