Obama signals major shift in US trade policy

CHICAGO: President-elect Barack Obama has signalled a major shift in US trade policy with a new emphasis on enforceable environmental and labour standards to prevent a "race to the bottom."

But while these progressive policies may satisfy some critics, they could further complicate stalled WTO negotiations and serve as an excuse for greater protectionism as the US slips deeper into its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

"The incoming president will face more political pressure for protectionism than any other US chief executive since 1930," said outgoing US Under Secretary of Commerce Christopher Padilla.

"How president-elect Obama responds to this pressure will define the course of the global economy - and America's economic identity - for a generation," he said.

Obama's free trade credentials remain questioned ahead of his White House entry on January 20 despite having tapped free trade advocates Bill Richardson for commerce secretary and Ron Kirk as US trade representative.

The Democrat is backed by trade unions and opposes free trade pacts with Colombia and South Korea that were signed under President George W. Bush's administration.

Together with another free trade deal signed with Panama, the pacts are gathering dust in Congress due to opposition from largely Democratic lawmakers.

In tapping Kirk, Obama said that while the success of American business depends on "strong, robust trade, and open doors for American products," any agreement he signs "must be written not just with the interest of big corporations in mind, but with the interests of our nation and our workers at heart."

That reciprocity will extend beyond just trade in goods, Obama said, but also means that "on both sides of the border, we end up having labour and environmental agreements that are enforceable so we don't have a race to the bottom, but instead the standards of living of all workers are raised."

Obama has also vowed to get tough on China's currency policy which US lawmakers charge is a key cause for the ballooning US trade deficit with the world's most populous nation.

Kirk may also have to tinker with the key North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), which Obama wants renegotiated in order to protect US jobs.

Obama also wants to rewrite the South Korean deal, the biggest to be forged since Nafta 15 years ago, to give US carmakers greater access to the Korean market. - AFP Business Times