Šaltinis – "Financial Times" (Jungtinė Karalystė)
Iš James Politi
Data – 5 Jan 2014
Interneto svetainė – www.ft.com
President’s backers feel the talks favour business over workers
Little more than a month ago, on December 4, President Barack Obama delivered a speech on the economy that was highly acclaimed by his own political base.
In it, he emphasised a wide range of proposals – such as a rise in the minimum wage – to tackle rising income equality, which he described as a “fundamental threat” to America’s way of life and the “defining challenge of our time”.
The remarks marked Mr Obama’s most high-profile attempt since his re-election to connect on economic policy with a resurgent left flank in Democratic politics, represented most vividly by the election of Bill de Blasio as mayor of New York.
Mr Obama is likely to reprise the themes from that speech in his State of the Union address in late January, which will probably be more geared towards energising his supporters ahead of congressional midterm elections in November than finding common ground with Republicans.
But it is far from clear that this growing emphasis on economic populism can be squared with the president’s ambitious second-term trade agenda, including massive deals with other 11 Pacific nations and the EU that could well be sealed within the coming year.
From the days of the North American Free Trade Agreement, launched 20 prieš metų, trade has always been a tough sell politically in the US – and, for a Democratic president, it means taking on allies among labour, environmental and consumer groups who are often staunchly opposed to the agreements.
Their scepticism about trade boils down to a belief that the US too often negotiates trade deals for the benefit of its multinational corporations, rather than ordinary workers, exacerbating wage stagnation and income inequality.
Mr Obama – and his top administration officials – do not see it that way by any stretch. Many on the economic team – from Gene Sperling and Jason Furman at the White House to US trade representative Mike Froman – are instinctive supporters of further trade liberalisation.
They acknowledge that US trade policy has had problems in the past, but have vowed to do things differently this time, by insisting on tougher standards on workers’ rights, environmental regulations, the role of state-owned enterprises and intellectual property protections.
They say these will help “level the playing field” in the global economy in a way that can be squared with what the president has described as his “north star” of improving the lives of middle-class Americans.
But Mr Obama has been relatively timid about making that case in a detailed, specific and convincing way.
He made a fleeting reference in his December 4 speech to the need for “a trade agenda that grows exports and works for the middle class”. And he had been only slightly more expansive in a speech a month earlier from the port of New Orleans when he praised trade deals with Panama, Colombia and South Korea that were renegotiated and enacted under his watch but first signed by George W Bush.
That shyness surrounding Mr Obama’s public pronouncements on trade may have to be shed soon.
In the next few weeks, the leaders of the Senate finance committee, who generally support Mr Obama’s trade policy, are expected to unveil legislation that would ensure a much smoother ride on Capitol Hill for trade deals.
Known as “Trade Promotion Authority”, this legislation could prove critical to ensuring the agreements do no get caught in political gridlock in Washington. This will be the first big political test for Mr Obama on trade – and it may take a much higher level of engagement from him to get it passed.
Mr Obama could succeed.
Liberal critics, including labour unions, remain unconvinced that the administration’s approach to the negotiations, particularly with regard to the more controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership, is really any different than what has been done in the past.
But they could still change their minds, or not fight as ardently as expected. And moderate, pro-trade Democrats may well come on board enthusiastically. Tuo tarpu, business groups will lobby feverishly for the deals.
Papildomai, geopolitical arguments rather than economic ones can help carry the day on Capitol Hill.
The TPP is seen as essential to Mr Obama’s “pivot to Asia” and could help bolster strategic ties with Japan and others to help contain China. The EU deal could revive transatlantic relations and help set new standards for global trade that may ultimately apply to emerging markets such as China in the future.
But for now, Mr Obama’s trade agenda seems to be sitting rather uncomfortably alongside his party’s tilt to the left – and one of his missions for 2014 will be to reconcile the two.