Legal Commentary

Obama Administration Refocused On Trade Agreement Passage

By Big Tent Democrat

From my perspective, this is good news:

The Obama administration and trade advocates in Congress are trying to put a series of long-delayed trade pacts back on the front burner, despite widespread skepticism on Capitol Hill about the benefits of expanded international commerce. On the heels of the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Monday that a delegation from Panama will visit Washington this week to try to resolve disputes over the U.S.-Panama trade deal. Kirk added that President Obama hopes to clear remaining obstacles to a separate pact with Colombia.

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Ultimately, Obama — who met with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe during the summit — believes that “a resolution of the Colombia trade agreement would be a good thing for both economies,” Kirk said. . . .

Labor, which, as Greg Sargent notes, is already not pleased with Obama's passivity on EFCA, is not happy with this development. From the CQ article, other opponents of free trade agreements are also up in arms:

Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch program, which is critical of recent trade agreements, argued that Kirk was trying to “create a sense of momentum on something that is highly contested and not decided . . . and has a huge political liability domestically.”

An interesting debate awaits.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 22, 2009 (boomark / email).