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Even as a modest trade pact with Colombia is stuck in a standoff between the administration and House Democrats, lobbyists are turning their attention to a more lucrative agreement with South Korea.
While two-way trade between the U.S. and Colombia totaled $18 billion in 2007, the U.S. International Trade Commission has estimated the South Korea deal could boost U.S. exports to that country by as much as $10 billion annually.
Signed almost a year ago, the deal has been stalled over South Korea’s restrictions on U.S. beef exports. But the two countries have now struck a deal to lift those barriers, boosting prospects for what would be the biggest U.S. trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement was put in place more than a decade ago.
The problem, once again, is labor. The AFL-CIO is just as strongly opposed to the Korea deal as it is to the one with Colombia, though for different reasons, according to Thea Lee, a lobbyist for the group. Labor criticizes Colombia for not doing enough to crack down on those responsible for murdering labor organizers while it argues the South Korea deal would hurt the U.S. economy and workers.
Korea sets up another fight between business and labor, which has been flexing its muscles on trade and other issues affecting their members since Democrats regained control of Congress.
For example, on Wednesday, the Senate is scheduled to vote on a measure overturning a Supreme Court decision from last year that would make it easier for former employees to sue their places of work over past instances of discrimination. Labor groups are pressing the Senate to support the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, while business groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) are going all out to defeat it.
A posting on NAM’s blog Monday morning said the bill would eliminate “all statutes of limitation on employment discrimination lawsuits — an invitation to endless, abusive litigation.”
Caught in between business and labor groups are centrist Democratic and Republican senators, including several, such as Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), who are up for reelection next year.
Trade is another tough issue for some of those members, though they may not have to cast votes, despite the push by business. Opposition from labor and other groups means Democrats are unlikely to allow a vote.
The South Korea breakthrough comes while relations on trade between the White House and congressional Democrats is at an historic nadir because of the dispute over Colombia.
President Bush tried to force Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) into scheduling a vote on the Colombia agreement, but Pelosi, under heavy pressure from labor groups, re-wrote House rules to prevent such action, earning herself a political victory and enraging the administration. Pelosi has also caught heat from editorial boards across the country for her decision.
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