All through the presidential election campaign, Barack Obama blew hot and cold on trade. In tones reminiscent of Bill Clinton and the New Democrats, he often spoke persuasively about embracing globalisation and welcoming international competition. The US could not prosper by hiding from the world economy, he said. Yet he was second to none among the candidates in questioning specific trade pacts. He attacked the North American Free Trade Agreement and said it should be renegotiated. He threatened companies that invest abroad rather than “keeping jobs at home”. This equivocation has carried through to his trade policy appointments.

Mr Obama’s US trade representative (his chief international negotiator) will be Ron Kirk, a former mayor of Dallas, a leading proponent of Nafta and a long-time supporter of liberal trade. His appointment disappoints the president’s supporters on the left of the party. The new labour secretary has them applauding, however: she is Hilda Solis, an ally of the unions, a leader in Congress of opposition to the Central American Free Trade Agreement and a forthright critic of orthodox liberal trade.

The new commerce secretary, announced earlier, will be Bill Richardson. Running against Mr Obama for the Democratic nomination, the former governor of New Mexico expressed qualified support for Nafta, but called for “fair trade, not just unabashed free trade”, and underlined the need to address “wage disparities” between the US and its partners. Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, will doubtless also have a say: he will be the closest thing in Mr Obama’s circle to an outright free-trader.

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December 22, 2008 1:14am in Current Affairs, US Politics | Comment