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No rest for the trade competitors

Oct 19, 2011
Carter Wood

So things will settle down now in the trade world that President Obama will sign the three U.S. free trade agreements into effect Friday afternoon? Well, maybe. There's still much work to do on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Indeed, Business Roundtable joined 40+ trade associations in a letter urging the President to move forward directly with negotiating a comprehensive, effective TPP. The APEC meeting looms next month in Hawaii.

Meanwhile, U.S. competitors continue lowering their multilateral trade barriers, as indicated by this story, "Germany committed to an EU/Mercosur trade agreement said Merkel.

German Chancellor Merkel's comments came in a meeting in Berlin with the President of Uruguay. As MercoPress reported:

The European Union will seek to further discussions over a trade deal with Mercosur at the upcoming G20 summit in Cannes in November announced on Tuesday German Chancellor Angela Merkel alongside visiting Uruguayan president Jose Mujica.

The EU and Mercosur have been trying for years to draw up a free trade deal that would encompass 750 million people and commerce worth 125 billion dollars a year. Talks were re-launched in 2010, but unresolved issues dashed hopes of reaching a deal by the middle of this year.

And then there's this: "Russia signs free-trade deal with former Soviet states," which is admittedly hard to get too excited about. Good luck to the Molodovans and Tajikistanis, to be sure.

Ah, well. For the moment, let's celebrate the upcoming signing of the U.S. free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. President Obama plans to sign the enacting legislation and the Trade Adjustment Assistance bill in a White House ceremony Friday at 2:30 p.m. Coverage ...