Posted on Thursday, 03.17.11
As President Obama departs on a trip to Latin America this weekend, many Americans are wondering why he has still not acted on critical free-trade agreements with two of our closest allies in the region. In his most recent State of the Union address, the president expressed his desire to pursue free-trade agreements with Colombia and Panama as a way to create jobs here at home at a time when we need them most.
His continued delay in taking the necessary steps to finalize those deals is not only disappointing for those of us looking for ways to boost the economy but also perplexing.
The administration’s action on a trade agreement with South Korea was a clear sign of its confidence in the benefits that come from free trade deals. Indeed, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that completing deals with South Korea, Panama, and Colombia, when taken together, would protect 380,000 U.S. jobs. Completing these deals is also a matter of basic fairness. A recently-completed deal between Colombia and the European Union now means that if a French farm equipment company sells a tractor to a company in Colombia, it won’t have to pay a punishing tariff that American companies do. Why would the White House tolerate a situation in which our firms are taxed at the Colombian border on their goods, while our European competitors are not?
This is completely unacceptable, and that’s why Senate Republicans have insisted in recent weeks that all three trade deals must be moved through Congress as quickly as possible. American job creators deserve better than what they’re getting from this administration’s delays. The excuses coming out of the White House have been patronizing at best, not only to American businesses and workers who are clamoring for presidential action, but also to our close allies in Latin America who are just as perplexed as we are that the administration continues to slow-walk these deals.
Both were negotiated and finalized three years ago, and bipartisan approval in the Senate is all-but assured. Still, the administration continues to call for more time.
The president’s inaction seems to elicit a new critic with each passing week. Fellow Democrats like Senator Max Baucus of Montana have called on the White House to approve these deals for the sake of job creation here at home. And the editorial board at The Washington Post has written that the arguments the president has used to delay action were “never as serious as he contended, and are well on their way to resolution.” With those on the left and the right calling on the president to act, the time for delay is clearly over.
With 14 million Americans out of work, passing these trade agreements and having the president sign them is one of the easiest ways to help American-based businesses create good paying, private-sector jobs. By providing new export opportunities for U.S. businesses, the economic impact of these deals would be felt immediately by farmers and ranchers, and workers nationwide.
The president has said that he wants to improve America’s stature in the world, but by putting these deals on the back-burner, that is exactly what he puts at risk in our own backyard. Republicans in Congress — and an increasing number of Democrats — can only hope that Latin American leaders remind President Obama of all this, and that he acts. Until then, we look forward to sending all three free-trade agreements to the president’s desk this year, and an end to the curious passivity that continues to delay the growth of American private-sector jobs.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is the Senate Republican leader.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/17/2120490/gop-leader-calls-for-action-on.html#ixzz1GzikobA2
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