Obama sends free trade deals to Congress

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday sent long-stalled free trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to Congress and pressed lawmakers to approve them “without delay” after years of hold-ups.

The pacts, signed under former President George W. Bush, are expected to boost U.S. exports by $13 billion and benefit U.S. agriculture and manufacturing, and will form part of Obama’s plan to cut 9.1 percent unemployment.

“These agreements will support tens of thousands of jobs across the country for workers making products stamped with three proud words: Made in America,” Obama said in a statement.

The move, instantly applauded by Obama’s Republican foes and the U.S. business community, came after a nearly three-year feud fed by market-access and labor worries and a fight over aid to U.S. workers displaced by overseas competition.

There were immediate signs that the pacts could provide a rare moment of bipartisanship in deeply divided Washington.

“They will be a top priority for the House,” Republican House Speaker John Boehner said, but took a swipe at Obama’s years-long delay in submitting them to Congress saying it “was unacceptably long and likely to cost jobs.”

The office of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the chamber would likely approve the deals next week, before the Senate acts.

The latest snag to winning congressional support for the deals came in a dispute over Trade Adjustment Assistance, a program to compensate workers who lose jobs to overseas competition.

But a compromise between Republicans and Democrats will now allow the accords to pass “in tandem” with TAA, Boehner said.

The pacts, which the White House says will boost ties with key allies, have however stirred worries among labor unions and lawmakers from rustbelt states suffering from high unemployment.

“With an exploding trade deficit that has caused massive job loss, now is not the time to pass more wrongheaded free trade agreements,” said Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

“Instead of practicing trade according to a textbook that’s 20 years out of print, let’s practice trade based on our national interests,” Brown said.

“We must put American workers first.”

The White House has been especially keen to get the trade deal with Seoul endorsed before the state visit to Washington of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Oct. 13.

In Bogota, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said that Obama had fulfilled a promise made during a meeting in April to submit the free trade deal for approval.

“I celebrate this step, because ... this means more economic growth and more jobs” in Colombia, he said.

Santos also called on Democrats and Republicans to “please, quickly approve the treaty.”

“The fact that a Democratic administration has presented to Congress the agreement with Colombia is an acknowledgement that, on our side, we are making advances concerning human rights and the rights of workers,” he said.

The accords had run into Democratic opposition early in Obama’s term.

The Colombia pact stalled on U.S. concerns over violence against labor activists, the Panama agreement faced hurdles tied to alleged money laundering and worries about opening South Korea’s automobile market held up that pact.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Colombia currently collects $100 in tariffs on U.S. goods for every $1 of U.S. duties on Colombian goods and “a similar lopsidedness” exists with Panama and South Korea.

“America is finally getting back in the game,” said U.S. Chamber President Thomas Donohue. “These agreements are about creating jobs and ensuring a level playing field for trade.”

Obama himself made the case for approving the accords in messages attached to the ratification paperwork for each agreement, vowing that the South Korea pact would “support more than 70,000 American jobs.”

Failure to approve the agreement would see U.S. market share in South Korea ― already behind China and Japan, and just ahead of the European Union ― erode further, doing “damage to our leadership position in the region,” he said.

Obama described the Colombia accord as “a historic development in our relations,” praising Bogota as “a steadfast strategic partner of the United States and a leader in the region.”