Page 3 - Jay Van Andel News Today

Time is running out for the world's leaders to strengthen the global trading system. In their July meeting, G-8 leaders should commit to eliminating trade barriers established in the aftermathof the financial crisis within the year, establish a globalmoratorium on new trade barriers and excessive use of traderemedies, and set a hard timeline and blueprint for concludingtrade negotiations within the WTO.

On June 29, the Senate ratified the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement(FTA), and after a contentious and partisan markup session, theHouse Ways and Means Committee approved the pact for a full Housevote in July. The agreement is contentious because of theperception that Oman is only weakly committed to protectingworkers' rights. Not only is this a misconception, but the verystructure of the FTA would promote stronger labor standards andtheir enforcement. Rejecting the FTA on questionable labor ...

Free trade agreements between the United States and Latin Americancountries will pave the way for a future of friendship, peace, andprosperity throughout the hemisphere.

Congress should renew TPA as it is without adding new conditionsthat open the door to protectionist policies that undermineAmerica's ability to remain a dynamic and dominant player in theglobal economy. Current TPA rules support the development andprotection of effective labor and other economic policies withoutforcing unrealistic and detrimental regulations on developingeconomies.

An Enterprising Life, Indeed

This week, Tori Whiting, Heritage's Jay Van Andel Trade Economist in it's Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies talks about about tariffs and what they mean for Americans.

This Special Report describes which trade policies are helpful, which are harmful, and what the U.S. Congress can do now to put the U.S. back on a path to free trade leadership.

The 2010 rankings of trade freedom in countries around the world, developed by The Heritage Foundation as part of its annual Index of Economic Freedom, show many countries moving ahead to lower tariffsand cut other barriers to trade. Other countries, however, arestanding still or moving backward in response to protectionistpolitical pressures and are likely to find themselves fallingbehind, with lower growth rates and stagnating economies.

An improved political climate alone will not be enough to breakdown the many barriers to economic activity between the U.S. andIndia.

With the countries' strong ties and recent moves by Korea to openits market to U.S. goods, now is time.