House backs new free trade partners

WASHINGTON - The House voted Thursday to accept Chile and Singapore as free-trading partners for the United States, moving toward what the Bush administration foresees as a new era of open markets around the globe.

Business groups hailed the votes, saying they would open new opportunities for promoting American goods and investments. Unions said free trade without adequate labor protections would result in the loss of more American jobs to lower-paid foreign workers.

Within sight is a plan to eliminate trade barriers for all the Western Hemisphere.

If the deal is approved by the Senate, Chile would become the first South American country to forge a free trade agreement with the United States, and the prosperous city-state of Singapore would be the first in East Asia.

The vote on Chile was 270-156 and Singapore 272-155, strong support in the House where lawmakers representing blue collar and industrial districts have often been leery of trade pacts that unions say could cost U.S. jobs.

"These are world-class free trade agreements, and one of the things we can say is, it's about time," said Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The two trade bills were the first products of the "fast track" authority Congress gave the president last year, under which he can negotiate trade pacts that Congress must vote on but cannot change.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, who negotiated the two accords, said they would "eliminate tariffs, tackle nontariff barriers, open service markets, strengthen intellectual property protections for our knowledge industries and enhance labor and environmental protections."

Organized labor was strongly against both, saying they would only add to the millions of jobs the unions say have been lost to overseas competitors over the past decade of NAFTA and steps to open trade with China.

"It's time for us to stand up and defend the few good-paying jobs we have left in this country," said Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., an opponent of the two measures.

The Senate, generally more receptive to free trade, is likely to vote on the two agreements before it leaves for its August vacation at the end of next week.

U.S. trade with Chile is relatively small, but the agreement could give momentum to negotiations to open up markets with the nations of Central America and, eventually, the entire Western Hemisphere.

"The real gold ring here is to have a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas," said Bill Morley, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's vice president for legislative affairs.

Singapore is America's 12th-largest trading partner, with two-way trade nearing $40-billion last year. Trade in goods is already 99 percent duty-free, so the agreement focuses on removing barriers to services and investment. The agreement provides strong deterrence against intellectual piracy and counterfeiting, which cost the American motion picture, music and publishing industries billions of dollars in losses every year.

Under the deal with Chile, more than 85 percent of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products would become tariff-free immediately, with most remaining tariffs eliminated within four years.

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