State of the Union: Obama vague on trade

Posted By Phil Levy Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 4:35 AM Share

This did not feel like President Obama's first State of the Union address. It was just four months ago that he stood before a joint session of Congress, calling for action on his top priority -- health care reform. I was struck then that his speech was so devoid of specifics. It seemed a mistake.

I had the same reaction to his trade comments this evening. The president said:

"If America sits on the sidelines while other nations sign trade deals, we will lose the chance to create jobs on our shores."

He seemed on the verge of calling for Congress to pass pending accords with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, which await only an up-down vote. Yet the president veered away into a non sequitur caveat: We must enforce our agreements! That's true, but it would seem that as the head of the executive branch, he could handle that.

He ended the trade section with only a vague call for improved relations. I wish instead he had closed with lines from later in the speech: "Do not walk away... Not when we are so close. Let us find a way to come together and finish the job .... "

EXPLORE:OBAMA ADMINISTRATION, TRADE

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ZATHRAS

4:47 AM ET

January 28, 2010

I thought the reference to

I thought the reference to trade agreements was just weird.

The one with South Korea raises a few contentious issues, but nothing critical, and the blocking the agreement with Colombia is nothing but a skin on the wall for some labor groups. President Obama could have called for ratifying these a year ago, but didn't; he could have asked for ratification tonight, and instead called for "agreements." Was he referring to the agreements that had largely been negotiated when he took office, or new agreements to be reached after renegotiation of the old ones?

Shadow Government is a blog about U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration, written by experienced policy makers from the loyal opposition and curated by Peter D. Feaver and William Inboden.