ZOELLICK: PRESSING FORWARD WITH U.S. BILATERAL FREE-TRADE AGREEMENTS

ZOELLICK: PRESSING FORWARD WITH U.S. BILATERAL FREE-TRADE AGREEMENTS    U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick said the United States should not be deterred from pursuing bilateral free-trade agreements with other nations.
   “I just think it would be madness to let a few countries in Europe or elsewhere decide that they want to stop trade negotiations; because they won’t cut their subsidies, we’re all supposed to pack our bags and go home,” he told the newly launched American-Australian Free Trade Agreement Coalition in Washington, March 19. “The best way to move them is to keep moving forward.”
   Even with the proposed free-trade agreement with Australia, Zoellick expects some hesitation on both sides.
   “There’s no doubt that both of us will have sensitive products as we go forward with this, and I think that the key that I’ve seen in these negotiations is to look at this as more of a problem-solving attitude,” he said. “If we can get the sectors talking to one another on both sides of the Pacific, sometimes they can come up with ideas that we can put into the agreement.”