Mixed record on trade for potential USTR pick
Associated Press
Mixed record on trade for potential USTR pick
By Erica Werner
10 December 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) - Since emerging as a leading contender for U.S. trade representative under President-elect Barack Obama, Rep. Xavier Becerra has been criticized as both overly protective and not protective enough of U.S. workers in trade agreements.
The truth may lie somewhere in between.
That’s partly because the California Democrat has shifted positions on key trade issues. He voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 but later came to regret that vote.
More recently Becerra has supported some trade pacts, such as last year’s Peru deal, because he said they contained sufficient environmental and labor protections.
He’s opposed others, including the Central American pact that passed narrowly in 2005 and a proposed Colombian deal, because he said they didn’t offer enough protections for workers here and abroad.
"Congressman Becerra’s record is mixed," said Dan Griswold, director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. "His trade record probably puts him on the more pro-trade side of his party."
Becerra said in an interview Wednesday that he and Obama had a good conversation about the job when they met last week in Chicago. He declined to reveal many details of where the deliberations stand, and would not discuss his differences with Obama on trade issues.
"I appreciate what I think is his global vision, and I think he gets it when it comes to how to make sure that we’re benefiting by having this continued global integration occur, so that people here in this country will say ’Yeah, it’s good for us to do this’," Becerra said.
Becerra and Obama agree on many trade issues.
Obama said during the campaign that he favored renegotiating NAFTA to get better labor and environmental standards. Like Becerra, he supported the Peru deal, opposed CAFTA and opposes the Colombia pact.
Both men speak of the need for trade pacts that protect workers and the environment. Yet, on occasion, they’ve parted ways.
Obama voted in favor of the U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement in 2006, saying that "our foreign policy interests in the region require greater engagement with it."
Becerra opposed that deal, contending that Oman did not have laws that could sufficiently protect its workers. He said at the time U.S. trade policy "is broken."
Obama and Becerra also have different public positions on Cuba. Becerra has voted for measures to ease Cuba sanctions and in 1994 co-sponsored legislation to lift the trade embargo.
A trip Becerra took to Havana in 1996 led to a split in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus when two Cuban-American lawmakers - the only Republicans in the group - resigned in protest.
Obama, by contrast, has said he would uphold the embargo until Cuba shows "significant steps toward democracy."
Becerra would give up 16 years seniority in the House and a spot on the Ways and Means Committee, which oversees trade, if he becomes the trade representative. An ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he was just elected vice chairman of the Democratic caucus.
Becerra’s ties in the House would make him a good emissary to a Democratic caucus that can divide on trade issues, analysts said.
"He would be very, very well-positioned to carry out whatever agenda the Obama administration wanted," said Lloyd Wood, spokesman for the American Manufacturing Trade Action Committee.
Becerra’s appointment would be a boon to the Latino community, which is hoping for more Hispanics in the Obama administration beyond Bill Richardson as commerce secretary. At the same time it would mean losing a high-ranking Latino in the House.
An Obama spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday and no immediate announcement was expected.
