WH Blog: Better Trade Agreements for American Workers and Businesses

Posted by Robert Gibbs on December 18, 2010 at 11:21 AM EST

This weekend, experts from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative are in Seattle, Washington, hammering out the legal language for the landmark trade agreement President Obama announced earlier this month: improvements on the US-Korea trade deal that make the pact better for American workers and businesses, particularly in our recovering auto sector.

That agreement was reached after the President walked away from an earlier offer at the G20 meeting in Seoul, Korea. What our Korean counterparts put on the table wasn't good enough for you then, and the President chose to take more time to get the agreement right.

The result of that bold decision was an agreement that won wide acclaim on announcement, and we're eager to work with its supporters on both sides of the aisle in Congress to advance it as quickly as possible.

Many are asking whether two other pending trade agreements - those with Colombia and Panama - should move forward with the Korea deal. A story posted on the Politico website Friday caused some confusion about our position on that question, but it is exactly the same as it has been.

While the President has not yet discussed a timeline for moving the Colombia agreement or the Panama agreement, he has said consistently that he wants his Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, to resolve outstanding issues with these agreements.

The USTR office is working to do so for the express purpose of moving each agreement forward at the right time for Congress's consideration.

This is a solid promise. The President's determination to get the Korea deal right resulted in a landmark achievement with significant support, and we'll seek the same on other trade pacts.

We intend to conclude the best deals possible for American workers and businesses - agreements that are responsible and responsive to Americans' concerns, and that can soon bring home the jobs and economic prosperity that come when trade is done right.

That's been our commitment from the start, and it's our commitment today. We look forward to working with the new Congress to fulfill it.
Learn more about Economy, Foreign Policy.

American labor is opposed to an agreement with Columbia, because the Colombian government has done little to stem violence against trade unionists. According to the AFL-CIO blog:

The pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would give special trade preferences to a government that has done little to respect workers' rights. 

The agreement, left over from the Bush administration, is another in a series of bad trade pacts negotiated by the Bush White House, deals that have contributed to a U.S. trade deficit of $677 billion in 2008, massive job loss and shrinking paychecks. 

Such trade deals have contributed to the loss of more than 3 million manufacturing jobs in the United States since 2001. 

Workers across both countries oppose passage of the FTA until workers can fully exercise international core labor rights without fear . . .

President Obama opposed the Colombia FTA during his campaign. Panama was a US protectorate for many years, but was originally part of Columbia. 

Unlike some o the other Asian manufacturers, Hyundai and KIA, have facilities in both California and Michigan. Other foreign auto manufacturers have moved their facilities into the south to take advantage of right to work laws that keep auto worker's wages lower than in other states. 

Korea is one of the strongest US allies in Asia.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Motor_Company#United_States

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WMR: Why North Korea may have attacked the South Korean corvette Cheonan

July 8-9, 2010 -- "4/22" is a red-letter day in North Korea just as much as "9/11" is in the United States and "7/7" is in London.

On that day in 2004, a massive explosion tore through the train station at Ryongchon, North Korea in what was believed to have been an assassination attempt against North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.

The fingerprints of the Bush administration and Israel were all over the incident. In light of the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan and the unsubstantiated blame assigned to North Korea as the culprit, a re-examination of Ryongchon is necessary.

Rightardia comment: This is another article Rightardia got form the Wayne Madsen Report (WMR).The Major was an intelligence watch officer in South Korea (SK)  in the 1980s and never considered the North Koreans (NK) to be a invasion threat.  

This view was shared by the intelligence watch is Seoul. The fact is both Koreas and the US were continuously involved in skirmishes along the DMV and in international waters.


It is unlikely that NK would attack a SK corvette unless they were provoked or the South Korean ship was in NK waters.

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Sports Politics: Two hilarous sports stories from Korea

03 July, 2009, 18:38

In the first story the world discovers that Kim Jong Il, the DPRK leader, masterminded North Korea’s FIFA World Cup qualification.

Despite being busy threatening the world with his nuclear program, Kim Jong Il finds time to help North Korean sportsmen achieve outstanding results. It’s claimed he’s behind the football (soccer) team’s World Cup qualification.

North Korean sporting officials claim that it was the invaluable tactical advice that the head of the state gave to the players that allowed them to win a ticket to South Africa in 2010, reports Choson Sinbo, a Japan-based newspaper published by the General Association of Korean Residents.

“The Great Leader gave in-depth guidance on the development of Korean football. He proposed the game’s tactics most relevant for the physiological characteristics of the Korean players”, Kim Jong Su, General Secretary of North Korean Football Association, said.

Read more

The official also said Kim Jong Il personally guided the team at the stadium in April last year.

According to the newspaper, the Great Leader’s involvement allowed the Korean footballers to show their own game and cope without copying the style of play of the leading Western teams.

Head Coach of the North Korean national squad, Kim Jong Hun, explains the main reason of his men’s success lies in their "exceptional spiritual strength and unity.”

"Perhaps there’s no other team in the world, who would be fighting with the same dedication to please the leader and to bring fame to their motherland,” Kim Jong Hun said.

The North Korean team finished second in Group 2 of the Asian qualifiers, two points behind their neighbors from South Korea.

They will now compete at the World Cup for the second time in history. Their previous appearance at the tournament became a sensation. The underdogs progressed to the quarterfinals, beating football powerhouse Italy on their way.

Football is not the only interest of Kim Jong Il’s outside politics. The Great Leader is also a specialist in art, as he recently helped a Korean theatre to stage the opera ‘Eugene Onegin’.

In the second story we discover that the North Korean soccer team lost to South Korea today--1-0--because the team was poisoned by the South Korean government. Perhaps the team ate some bad kimche.

The North Korean football federation has blamed South Korea of deliberately poisoning their footballers ahead of the World Cup qualifier held in Seoul on April 1, AP news agency reports.

Several North Korean players complained about stomach pains the morning before the game, and later three of them were diagnosed as having food poisoning.

Read more

Head coach of the North Korean team Kim Jeong Hoon insisted on moving the venue of the encounter from the South Korean capital to a neutral field, as the hosts were unable to ensure food quality for their guests, but the request was rejected by FIFA.

North Koreans, who were unbeaten before the match, have lost 1-0. Kim Chi Woo scored the winner for the hosts with just four minutes to play.

According to the statement by the North Korean coach, they are confident that the incident was a planned act by South Korea, aimed at hampering the relations between the two bordering states.

Yes, bad kimsche, that's the ticket!

http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-07-03/Kim_Jong_Il_masterminded_North_Korea_s_World_Cup_qualification_.html

http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-04-06/North_Korean_footballers_claim_they_were_poisoned_by_South_Korea_.html

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