WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), joined by congressional leaders and two Bush administration officials, announced a new bipartisan trade policy Thursday that will ease passage of pending trade agreements with Panama and Peru and could pave the way for renewal of the president's authority to "fast-track" trade agreements through Congress.
"Today marks a new day in trade policy," Pelosi told a news conference, standing between Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab. The new framework, she said, incorporates labor and environmental standards into trade agreements, a change that labor unions and environmental groups have demanded for years.
"Last November, Americans voted on a new direction, and that includes a new direction on trade," Pelosi said, urging open markets but also warning: "We can have a bipartisan consensus on trade, but only with a recognition of labor and environmental principles."
Most Democrats have opposed recent free trade agreements negotiated by the Bush administration, arguing the deals either did not address labor and environmental concerns or did so only in weak side deals.
Paulson said the announcement signaled a willingness by the administration to work with Congress on what he hoped would be "one in a row" of agreements.
In a statement late Thursday, President Bush said he was pleased with the new policy and looked forward to a renewal of his trade promotion authority, popularly known as "fast track," which expires next month. "Fast track" gives a president the authority to speed trade agreements through Congress without amendments, only a yes or no vote.
Senior Democrats, including Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said they hoped to rebuild the consensus on free trade fostered during the Clinton administration. "This will help pave the way for more cooperation on trade down the road," Baucus said.
Republicans, for the most part, agreed.
"We are reforging that bipartisan coalition on trade that used to exist in this country," said Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana, the senior Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, who helped negotiate the new policy.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Senate Finance Committee's top Republican, said he was "glad we've secured this bipartisan consensus" but added that he would reserve final judgment until he saw the text of the final trade agreements.
