Good News on Trade Out of the White House
April 27th 2009 23:05
There has been several positive signs coming from the Obama Administration on furthering free (or something close to free) trade:
1.) Last week, Obama signaled that he was looking to pass Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea.
2.) Two weeks ago, the Administration chose not to label China as a "currency manipulator."
3.) Also, it appears that Obama will not attempt to renegotiate NAFTA like he threatened during his campaign.
While the motives of this may not be Obama's commitment to free trade, it is nonetheless encouraging to see Obama steering clear of protectionism, which would surely exacerbate the global downturn. However, the details of the Free Trade Agreements will make a difference on how "free" the bilateral trade truly will be. Remember, Obama is a man that, during one of the debates, said:
“I believe in free trade... And when it comes to South Korea, we've got a trade agreement up right now, they are sending hundreds of thousands of South Korean cars into the United States. That's all good. We can only get 4,000 to 5,000 into South Korea. That is not free trade."
Hopefully someone has explained free trade to Obama just a little bit better than that.
1.) Last week, Obama signaled that he was looking to pass Free Trade Agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea.
2.) Two weeks ago, the Administration chose not to label China as a "currency manipulator."
3.) Also, it appears that Obama will not attempt to renegotiate NAFTA like he threatened during his campaign.
While the motives of this may not be Obama's commitment to free trade, it is nonetheless encouraging to see Obama steering clear of protectionism, which would surely exacerbate the global downturn. However, the details of the Free Trade Agreements will make a difference on how "free" the bilateral trade truly will be. Remember, Obama is a man that, during one of the debates, said:
“I believe in free trade... And when it comes to South Korea, we've got a trade agreement up right now, they are sending hundreds of thousands of South Korean cars into the United States. That's all good. We can only get 4,000 to 5,000 into South Korea. That is not free trade."
Hopefully someone has explained free trade to Obama just a little bit better than that.
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