TW: One of Obama's worst positions during the primaries was on free trade. Pandering to labor during some crucial primaries (e.g. OH) Obama took a relatively weak free trade stance. He backed off during the general and now he has back-tracked completely, as he will not seek to re-open the NAFTA agreement. He is not the first Democrat to renege on a tough trade position and to be honest I would wonder why anyone would believe a Dem at this point who claims during a primary to be tough on NAFTA.
Regardless, this is a good thing. One area where the Dems have a soft spot policy wise is free trade, and now amidst a worldwide demand contraction is not the time to pursue anti-free trade policies. Not surprisingly Obama is smart enough to see this and yet another Republican attack route, this one with some substance, is neutralized. To be clear this is not a black and white issue. The world trade system is out-of-whack with our massive deficits but much like fiscal policy timing is everything and protectionist policies would be the solution anyway.
From NYT:
"The administration has no present plans to reopen negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement to add labor and environmental protections, as President Obama vowed to do during his campaign, the top trade official said on Monday.
...Thea Lee, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. policy director, said that the workers federation would have preferred “more definitive” language on addressing key labor concerns, but that it was understandable for a new administration to start its review with a less confrontational approach..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/business/21nafta.html?_r=2&hp
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