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US, not China, must write trade rules: Obama

WASHINGTON, January 21, 2015

President Barack Obama said the US and not China must write trade rules for Asia and called on Congress to give the White House a freer hand to close trade deals.

Obama, who is pushing to overcome resistance to so-called fast-track authority from within his own party as well as conservative Republicans, said if China prevailed, US workers and businesses would be at a disadvantage.

"That's why I'm asking both parties to give me trade promotion authority to protect American workers, with strong new trade deals from Asia to Europe that aren't just free, but fair," he said in the State of the Union address, also acknowledging past deals had not always "lived up to the hype."

China is not part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership the US is negotiating with 11 other trading partners, which aims to set common standards on issues such as workers' rights and the environment as well as lower trade barriers.

The Asian giant is instead pushing for faster progress towards a trade pact with the wider Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) bloc.

National Association of Manufacturers president Jay Timmons said fast-track, which gives Congress a yes-or-no vote on trade agreements in exchange for setting negotiating objectives, would make trading partners take the US more seriously and backed Obama's focus on China.

"I think it's important to note that there are countries all over the world, China included, that would like to take away America's mantle of economic leadership," he said.

Trade supporters and critics are already lobbying lawmakers on fast-track authority, and Maryland lawmaker Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat, said the White House had to consider Democrats' concerns about trade deals hurting jobs and wages.

"The majority of Democrats right now are very hesitant, to say the least, and not at all sure that trade is good for working people," said Hoyer, who voted against fast-track in 2002 but has supported major trade deals.

Earlier, Obama greeted the new Republican-led Congress with defiance, calling for his opponents to end their resistance to raising taxes on the wealthy and threatening to veto any legislation they approve that would challenge his key decisions.

Dogged by an ailing economy since the start of his presidency six years ago, Obama appeared before a joint session of Congress and millions of Americans watching on television to declare that his policies have paid off with an economic revival that has trimmed the jobless rate to 5.6 per cent.

It is now time, he said in his State of the Union address, to "turn the page" from recession and war and work together to address those middle-class Americans who have been left behind.

But by calling for higher taxes that Republicans are unlikely to approve and chiding those who suggest climate change is not real, Obama struck a confrontational tone for his final two years in office. He vowed to veto any Republican effort to roll back his signature healthcare law or his unilateral loosening of immigration policy.

In sum, Obama appeared liberated from having to face American voters again, a point that he reminded Republicans about.

"I have no more campaigns to run," Obama said. When a smattering of applause rose from Republicans at that prospect, he added with a tight grin: "I know because I won both of them."

Addressing Congress for the first time since Republicans seized the Senate in November elections, the Democratic president made clear he will not back down from his political opponents, urging them to work with him to engage in a debate about the future "without demonising each other."

"Imagine if we broke out of these tired old patterns," he said. "Imagine if we did something different."

Many of the proposals outlined in Obama's address, while popular with many Americans, are unlikely to become reality, given Republican opposition and the fact Obama will soon become a lame duck as the county turns its attention to the 2016 campaign to succeed him.

But his proposals for wealth redistribution could serve to shape the political debate around the next White House election and could help former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the overwhelming favourite for the Democratic presidential nomination if she decides to run. - Reuters




Tags: Obama | State of the Union |

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