Thread: Sen. Brown Moves to Delay Free-Trade Pacts

AMERICAS NEWS APRIL 23, 2009, 12:04 A.M. ET

Lawmaker Moves to Delay Free-Trade Pacts
By JOSH MITCHELL

WASHINGTON -- A Democratic senator from Ohio is moving to further tie up pending free-trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, setting up a potential clash between President Barack Obama and some members of his party.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, a free-trade skeptic, said Wednesday he will soon introduce legislation that would effectively delay congressional consideration of the proposed free-trade pacts drafted under President George W. Bush. The Obama administration has indicated it is moving forward on the Colombia deal and is optimistic about the pending agreement with Panama.

Speaking before the Washington International Trade Association at George Washington University, Mr. Brown said any effort to finalize the pending agreements would be a continuation of failed Bush policies, and he warned of opposition in Congress.

"It's hard for anyone to argue our trade policy is working," Mr. Brown said, pointing to the U.S. trade deficit. He called for revamping U.S. trade policy, adding, "No other country practices trade according to this fundamentalist, economist philosophy" instead of pursuing policies that he said advance the country's economic and security interests.

Mr. Brown's comments come days after Mr. Obama dispatched U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to discuss U.S. concerns over Colombia's treatment of labor leaders. That issue is seen as a main roadblock in efforts to win U.S. congressional support for the deal.

U.S. officials have also expressed optimism about the pending agreement with Panama, with an administration official saying recently that minor labor issues seem resolvable. The proposed South Korean agreement still faces strong opposition from segments of the auto industry.

Free trade is a sensitive issue, particularly among labor leaders and lawmakers from manufacturing states that have seen jobs move overseas.

Mr. Brown, among several lawmakers elected in 2006 while campaigning as skeptics of the Bush trade agenda, said he would introduce legislation to put pending trade deals on hold until a federal commission and the Government Accountability Office studied the benefits of existing trade policies. He said his intent isn't to delay the pending deals but rather to ensure that decisions on trade are "evidence-based."

Asked whether his effort would ultimately prevent the current Congress from taking up the free-trade pacts, Mr. Brown said, "I don't know the answer to that," before adding, "What's the rush?"

"Prove to me these trade agreements are working," he said.

Mr. Brown said he met with Mr. Kirk Tuesday but didn't get a sense of the administration's stance on many issues, including possible timing for getting the deals approved.

Mr. Brown added he didn't know the deals' prospects in Congress but that serious concerns remain among some lawmakers. He said he expected the strongest opposition to the deals would come in the House.

Mr. Brown also called on the Obama administration to review the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mr. Obama earlier this month declined to raise the question of renegotiating Nafta.

Write to Josh Mitchell at joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124041872179144131.html

Right On! Stop them all and repeal the ones that are in effect. No nation runs their trade in huge deficits deliberately except one under the thumbs of a bunch of Traitors.

GO SHERROD BROWN! I support you 100%. And I'm a Republican! Wake up Republicans, get on the band-wagon with Sherrod Brown and stop this free trade crap that along with illegal immigration and a mandated tax code destroyed our economy.

Wake Up! One of the founding principles of the Republican Party in 1856 was to protect protectionism in the US, which protects our trade using a mix of tariffs and quotas to control imports, to maintain a healthy foreign trade balance, maintain our currency and money supply and protect our jobs, investments, infrastructure, plant and equipment, technologies and business incomes for our industries and employers.

Gotta agree with him! After being a Repub most of my life and seeing the laxity of law enforcement and the insane growth of government under the last administration, I absolutely refuse to label myself anymore than an independent.
In FM Beach FL, we used to have a large and productive shrimp fleet, which was the second largest income producer for Lee County. Suddenly, diesel went to $4.50 a gallon and they could no longer go out. But when Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, they raised donations of food and money and even managed to get experimental biodiesel for their boats to run supplies up the Mississippi and to the rest of the communities. This was at the time when Americans were being fed over 88 percent of imported shrimp. They had no income but to help other Americans was more important.
The Repubs have crumbed under the Bush gang and continued further with McCain and running mate Palin (who winked a lot and did a "shout out" to some high school during the VP debate) and now Michael Steele. Where is Mitt Romney and Ron Paul? Where are the people that realize what they say usually hits the nail on the head?

The problem with the so-called free trade agreements is that they are not free trade. Cheaper goods from another country produced by slave labor/ child labor, or those produced without regard for quality, safety, or environmental impact are not fair competition for goods produced by compensated adult labor to US standards. The free trade agreements are not drafted in a manner to benefit the American people or the US as a whole; they are drafted to benefit select business interests. I believe (can't prove it, but I believe) that the a major reason for Bush's irrational approach to securing the border and to illegal immigration in general was because of concessions he made behind closed doors to Central and South American governments to get them to sign the free trade agreements.