Republican blames Obama for trade programmes lapse

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s  failure to lay out a timetable for winning congressional  approval of free trade pacts with Colombia and Panama has  blocked renewal of trade programs for the Andean region and  displaced U.S. workers, a top Republican lawmaker said yesterday.

“Without this commitment from the administration, other  trade measures — such as TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance) and  ATPA (Andean Trade Preferences Act), which we sought to extend  this week — are now in limbo and American workers will suffer as a result,” House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee  Chairman Dave Camp said in a statement.

Camp repeated his call for action on the Colombia and  Panama agreements by July 1, as well as on an agreement with  South Korea that the Obama administration already has said it  would send to Congress in coming weeks.

The Colombia agreement, in particular, is unpopular with  many Democrats because of strong opposition from U.S. labor  groups, which say that country has not done enough to stop  killings of trade unionists and prosecute the murderers.

This week U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Obama had  instructed him to intensify talks with Colombia and Panama to  resolve concerns.