Posted by
Defend America on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:46:33 PM
How ObamaCare is killing free trade
Brazil’s threat of tariff retaliation over U.S. cotton subsidies is
only the latest eruption of rising protectionism around the world.
President Barack Obama isn’t doing much to quell protectionist
sentiment in the U.S., either. His passivity could prove costly.
Not that Obama has a problem with trade. In his State of the Union
speech to Congress last January, he stated an ambitious goal of
doubling U.S exports by 2015. It is trade policy that he seems
uncomfortable with. That bold declaration in the speech was a direct
result of lobbying from Obama’s economic advisers. But the wonks aren’t
driving U.S trade policy in the Obama administration. The political
team is. Its priority is passing healthcare reform. To pass healthcare
reform, Obama needs his core union support. And a push for new trade
agreements would alienate Big Labor.
So Obama has not nudged Congress to pass long-stalled treaties with
Colombia, Korea and Panama. Instead, the emphasis has been on get-tough
actions such as slapping preliminary duties on tires from China and
bricks from Mexico. Nor has he tried to energize the Doha trade talks,
pushing Brazil to first litigate via the World Trade Organization and
now retaliate. And in the U.S., high unemployment has encouraged
protectionist forces in Congress. A bipartisan House group just
introduced a new bill to abandon the North American Free Trade
Agreement, while one in the Senate is pushing for action against China
because of its weak currency policy.
And the situation could worsen. To appease Congress and continue its
recent populist tilt, the Obama administration will likely toughen
language about China in the Treasury Department’s April report on
currency policy. The next step would be to declare China a currency
manipulator in the October report, right before the November mid-term
elections.
http://blogs.reuters.com/james-pethokoukis/2010/03/10/how-obamacare-is-killing-free-trade/