Obama's plan for unfree trade

Not once in the agenda is free trade defended or presented as a policy objective, unless you consider the following reference-- the only sentence in the agenda to actually use the word "free" -- to be an indicator of trade liberalism.

"If we work together, free and fair trade with proper regard for social and environmental policy and appropriate political accountability will be a powerful contributor to the national and global well being."

Otherwise, the Obama trade agenda is anti-free trade. All presidents have recently taken to talking about "free and fair" trade, compromising the basic objectives of trade liberalization for political reasons. But even George W. Bush, no stranger to compromise on trade, made trade freedom a dominant objective, constantly hammering away at the "benefits of free trade" and the need to "knock down barriers."

Nothing comparable appears in Mr. Obama's agenda, which is tellingly entitled to capture the administration's prime trade objectives: "Making Trade Work for American Families." The opening sentences are a declaration of trade confusion -- trade as a social program...

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