Romney says Obama has 'no trade agenda to speak of'

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney hit President Obama on trade in a major foreign policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute on Monday.

Romney said that at this point, the United States has “no trade agenda to speak of.” 

“The president has not signed one new free-trade agreement in the past four years. I will reverse that failure. I will work with nations around the world that are committed to the principles of free enterprise, expanding existing relationships and establishing new ones,” Romney added.

Although Obama employed anti-free-trade rhetoric during the 2008 campaign, he has governed differently.

Obama renegotiated three free-trade agreements that were signed by former President George W. Bush with Panama, Colombia and South Korea and worked with Congress to get them approved. He has not signed any new free-trade agreements, however.

The Obama administration is moving forward with a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) regional free-trade agreement that was also started by Bush.

The TPP talks originally involved Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United States; Malaysia and Vietnam joined later. The Obama administration has expanded the talks to include NAFTA partners Canada and Mexico.

The TPP could form an important counterweight to Chinese economic power in the Pacific, but numerous issues around agricultural commodities remain unresolved.

Romney has vowed to seek fast-tracked trade authority to complete the TPP and wants to create larger “Reagan economic zone” globally.