Democrats Give Bush the Business on Trade

To avoid petty special-interest confrontations, the US Congress can extend authority to the president to negotiate trade deals. Congress retains final approval, voting yes or no on deals negotiated by the president. But a Democratic Congress at odds with the Republican president has demanded guarantees on labor and environmental protections in any future negotiations. Otherwise, Congress will reject the president’s authority, as well as pacts with Peru, Colombia and Panama. Such action would probably kill any chance of the World Trade Organization reviving the Doha Round, which would lower tariffs around the world, stalled by rich nations insisting on subsidies for their farmers. Congressional critics of the president argue that cheap goods for US consumers do not provide ample compensation for jobs lost from fierce competition that abuses workers or causes irrevocable destruction to waterways and land. Free trade has reduced poverty in many developing nations – and trade analysts debate just how much Congress should demand of emerging economies in the way of health, labor or environmental standards. – YaleGlobal