The Free-Trade Divide

President Bush sent the Democrats an important signal last week when he reminded reporters that Congress will have to decide this fall whether to sign off on trade deals with two more Latin American countries, Peru and Panama.

In May, the administration accepted the demands of Democratic congressional leaders to enforce labor and environmental standards as integral parts of those free-trade agreements -- ending a long stalemate on those questions.

But some liberal and labor Democrats are still voicing objections to the deals, and Rep. Sandy Levin, chairman of the House trade subcommittee, has just come back from a visit to Peru to make sure that its terms are being carried out.

The president was very clear about his views, saying that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab "will continue to work with the [Democratic] leadership and remind them of the importance of these trade bills. And they're now in charge of the Congress, and they'll have a chance to prove whether or not they believe in opening these markets. . . . It would be a huge mistake for the country if they don't."

But as the president acknowledged, the protectionist sentiment he has long opposed appears to be rising in Congress -- and among the Democratic presidential candidates as well.

The House leadership cavalierly denied his request for the kind of "fast-track" negotiating authority that past presidents have enjoyed. That procedure limits Congress to an up-or-down vote on future trade deals, rather than rewriting them in detail.

As if that were not worrisome enough, the Democratic aspirants for president vied last week in their debate in Chicago to see who could be most irresponsible on trade issues.

The setting encouraged pandering; 17,000 union members filled seats at Soldier Field, mobilized by the AFL-CIO, which was dangling the prospect of labor endorsements and campaign funds in the primary battles just ahead.

The bar for applause lines was set high early in the proceedings when Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, the longest of long shots, said that "it's time to get out of NAFTA and the WTO," referring to the free-trade agreement with Mexico and Canada and the World Trade Organization.

That led moderator Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, apparently auditioning for the part of Lou Dobbs, to ask other candidates, "Scrap NAFTA or fix it?" as if those were the only alternatives.

Hillary Clinton was first. "NAFTA and the way it's been implemented has hurt a lot of American workers," she said. "So clearly we have to have a broad reform in how we approach trade. . . . I voted against CAFTA [the Central American Free Trade Agreement]. I don't want to give fast-track authority to this president."

Bill Richardson: "We should never have another trade agreement unless it enforces labor protection, environmental standards and job safety."