Top House Democrat: Let's finish Korea trade agreement by Memorial Day

Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) said Tuesday that President Obama should press forward on a trade pact with South Korea, calling for Congress to approve that deal by Memorial Day. 

In a speech he said he hoped would be “provocative,” the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee also said that the administration should only send up pending free-trade agreements (FTA) with Colombia and Panama when they are ready, and chided Republicans for vowing to hold up the South Korean deal until the other two pacts are sent to Congress. 

“Ironically, they are willing to hold up the most economically significant agreement – South Korea – until they get their way on all of the FTAs,” Levin said at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 

In a question-and-answer session after his speech, he added: “I’m in favor of the administration breaking the deadlock. Period. I think it can do it. I think it should do it.”

The congressman, who was skeptical of the South Korea pact before changes were made to its automobile provisions, said that the administration should immediately send draft implementing legislation to allow for congressional consultation, and then formally send the agreement up so it can be fast-tracked.

He also indicated that he believes Colombia needs to do more to protect its workers from violence, though he also said he was witnessing positive signs from that country’s president, Juan Manuel Santos. On Tuesday, the Colombian embassy and its government trade bureau also sent flowers to every member of Congress as it asked lawmakers to restore another lapsed trade measure that reduced tariffs in an effort to battle the illegal drug trade. 

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, signaled earlier this month that, should the president submit the Korea deal alone, he will work to ensure that all three pacts are considered at the same time. Most Senate Republicans have also vowed to hold up trade-related administration nominees until the Colombia and Panama agreements are sent to Congress. 

For his part, Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has said that he wants Congress to consider all three agreements during the first half of this year. 

“That is not a call to slow down the Korea trade agreement but, rather, to end the foot-dragging on the Panama and Colombia agreements so that all three can move forward without delay,” a Republican Ways and Means spokesman said in a Tuesday statement. 

Levin’s comments came during a broader speech in which he said that globalization had allowed developing countries to become competitive much more quickly, forever altering the conventional model of free trade. 

The congressman also said the administration should file a World Trade Organization case against China for currency manipulation and that Trade Adjustment Assistance, which helps workers who have been displaced because of trade, should be restored after expiring earlier this year. 

As for South Korea, Levin told reporters after the event that he was confident there were enough votes in the House to pass the agreement, though he appeared to avoid a question about whether he thought Republicans would try to hold the measure up if it was sent to Congress alone. 

“If they bring it up, if it comes up for a vote, it will pass,” Levin said.