Trade battles brewing

There has been much chatter within the Washington Beltway about President Obama’s transition from campaigner to commander in chief.

In some ways, the transition has been smooth. But in others, there have been some bumps in the road, such as his decision to close the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay and reversing course by opting not to release photos of alleged abuse of detainees.

{mosads}But the differences between the approaches Obama took along the campaign trail and those he has adopted while sitting in the Oval Office are not just confined to homeland security.

Obama last year vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, but has since softened his stance. And the words coming from his trade representative are making some Democrats and a few Republicans on Capitol Hill very nervous.

In a recent interview with The Hill, pro-trade Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Obama has backtracked from his campaign pledges on trade, and praised the president’s new stance: “He’s smart … I think he understands that when a third of the world economy is based on trade, that [it’s] pretty important to keep it going.”

During a speech on Monday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said he was working to resolve a few final issues that would allow the administration to send a trade deal with Panama to Congress. He also suggested that the administration is moving forward on the Colombia trade deal that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) thwarted in 2008.

Kirk said both sides of the trade debate have to stop the “name-calling.” That is unlikely to cease anytime soon, however, because some believe this is the worst time to pass another free trade agreement.

And there are many powerful Democrats who do not want Obama to move forward on trade deals that President George W. Bush negotiated.

Democrats opposed to the Panama deal include House Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (N.Y.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (Mich.) and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (Minn.). And there are Republicans who have been outspoken against it, including Rep. Walter Jones (N.C.).

However, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) supports the Panama deal and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is a vocal backer of the Colombia trade pact.

The bottom line is that trade divides both parties, but it really divides Democrats. Getting the Panama and Colombia trade deals through the Senate will not be easy, but it will be easier than passing them in the House.

Kirk wants to work with the business community to press Congress to pass the trade agreements. That’s a huge undertaking, and Obama will need to help Kirk throughout the fierce debate on the value of trade deals amid an ailing U.S. economy.