From a Q & A session between Obama and some Republicans:
REP. ROSKAM: -
... And on the job-creation piece in particular, you mentioned Colombia, you mentioned Panama, you mentioned South Korea. Are you willing to work with us, for example, to make sure those FTAs get called? That's no- cost job creation. And ultimately, as you're interacting with world leaders, that's got to put more arrows in your quiver, and that's a very, very powerful tool for us. But the obstacle is, frankly, the politics within the Democratic Caucus.
PRESIDENT OBAMA:...
On the specific issue of trade, you're right, there are conflicts within -- and fissures within the Democratic Party. I suspect there are probably going to be some fissures within the Republican Party, as well. I mean, you know, if you went to some of your constituencies, they'd be pretty suspicious about it, new trade agreements, because the suspicion is somehow they're all one way.
So part of what we've been trying to do is to make sure that we're getting the enforcement side of this tight, make sure that if we got a trade agreement -- with China or other countries -- that they are abiding with it, they're not stealing our intellectual property, or making sure that their non-tariff barriers are lowered even as ours are opened up.
And my hope is, is that we can move forward with some of these trade agreements, having built some confidence, not just among particular constituency groups but among the American people, that trade is going to be reciprocal, that it's not just going to be a one- way street.
You are absolutely right, though, Peter, when you say, for example, South Korea is a great ally of ours. I mean, when I visited there, there's no country that is more committed to friendship on a whole range of fronts than South Korea. What is also true is that the European Union is about to sign a trade agreement with South Korea; which means right at the moment when they start opening up their markets, the Europeans might get in there before we do.
So we've got to make sure that we seize these opportunities. I will be talking more about trade this year. It's going to have to be trade that combines opening their markets with an enforcement mechanism, as well as just opening up our markets.
I think that's something that all of us would agree on. Let's see if we can execute it over the next several years.
