In a sweeping defense of his expansion plans for enhanced American trade worldwide, President Barack Obama on Friday said the U.S. cannot be in isolation.
“We cannot stop a global economy at our shores,” he told reporters during a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. “We’ve got to be in there and compete.”
His comments were the first since a deal was made between Republicans who head congressional tax committees and a key Democratic senator to advance a proposed controversial trade agreement called the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).
Republican Senator Orrin Hatch and Representative Paul Ryan this week changed the TPA to add provisions intended to protect human rights, make the bill’s contents public, and other concessions in order to win the support of Senator Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate finance committee.
“In many respects, this is the most far reaching and progressive trade promotion authority that we’ve seen going through Congress,” Obama said on Friday.
President Obama said his trade advance will protect working class Americans but admitted support within his party was divided.
“The politics around trade have always been tough, particularly within the Democratic Party,” he said.
President Obama’s comments came at a wide-ranging press conference in which he touched on hot button issues including Russia-Ukraine, Iran nuclear negotiations and the battle against the Islamic State group.
Earlier, Obama and Renzi affirmed the strong ties between their two countries, stressing common goals of stabilizing global security and improving their respective economies.
“This morning, we focused on our shared security,” as well as on economics, trade and Libyan unrest, Obama said.
The two countries have some tension over Russia, which Renzi visited in March. Russia is believed to be providing troops for the conflict in eastern Ukraine, a charge Moscow repeatedly has denied.
Source-VOA
