Obama Signs Trade Pacts

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

25 October 2011

US President Barack Obama has signed the implementing legislation for the United States free trade agreements (FTAs) with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, as well as a bill extending the Generalized System of Preferences, Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) providing benefits to US workers losing their jobs as a result of freer trade, and the Andean Trade Preference Act.

The implementing legislation for the long-awaited FTAs had finally been passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate on a bi-partisan basis on October 12. It is forecast that the FTAs, by reducing tariffs, will increase US exports by USD13bn each year and boost US gross domestic product by more than USD15bn, creating 250,000 American jobs in the process.

Following President Obama’s signature, the United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk pointed out that “chances are you’ll benefit from these agreements if you work for or with anyone who makes, grows, or provides goods and services to South Korea, Colombia or Panama. These agreements make it easier and more cost-effective to sell Made-in-the-USA products to consumers in each of these countries.”

He also added that “all three agreements have groundbreaking protections for labor rights, the environment and intellectual property, so American workers and businesses will be able to compete on a level playing field.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D - Montana), said that approving the FTAs, together with the TAA extension, “represents a major breakthrough in our job-creating trade agenda, (giving) American workers a leg up in the global economy by removing barriers to the world-class products they produce and helping them get the skills they need to compete in the 21st century economy.”

To reinforce the point, Dave Camp (R - Michigan), the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, commented that the signing of three FTAs “shows America is getting back in the game. Finally, we are sending a signal to our competitors and allies alike that the US is committed to a robust trade agenda that levels the playing field for American workers, consumers, and businesses and creates new markets for our goods and services.”

He concluded that, “with 95% of consumers living outside of the US, we have to move ahead with such agreements or else our competitors in Europe and Canada will seize these markets from us and from our workers.”

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