Trade Official Expects Anti-Trade Pressures

KTIC 840 Rural Radio - Nebraska

November 14, 2008

The Department of Commerce’s undersecretary for international trade, Christopher Padilla says President-elect Barack Obama will face “unprecedented’ anti-trade pressures in the coming year. Padilla warns, - the new administration should not ignore pending trade agreements or renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The undersecretary said, - pressures will come from the global financial crisis, a recent political stalemate on trade agreements and the election last week of many new skeptics of free trade to the House and Senate.

World leaders are to arrive in Washington, D.C. for a summit to discuss the global financial crisis. At the same time the Bush administration is pushing Congress to approve the long-stalled U.S.-Colombia trade agreement.

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