The Hindu Business Line : `Free, fair trade is the only forward way for America'

AT a time when this Republican administration is under pressure from Democrats in an election year, a senior Cabinet official has defended the record on free trade and has called on Americans to "firmly and forcefully" reject the emerging "economic isolationism and its under current of unspoken nativism."

The Commerce Secretary, Mr Donald Evans, told an audience of the World Affairs Council of Washington D.C. that internationalism of past presidents was what that laid the foundation of American prosperity and one that built the global economy.

"Free and fair trade is the only way forward for America. But some are advocating a retreat from engagement. We must be wary of that danger. A reversal from these policies would bring economic hardship for the United States and a descent into depression for the world economy," Mr Evans said, in an obvious reference to the recent attacks of the presumptive Democratic nominee for the November 2 Presidential elections, Senator John Kerry.

There are many things that Senator Kerry has said on the economy and jobs fronts. Among them, are that he will, if elected, review all free trade accords to ensure that there are adequate protections for American workers; and has promised to come down on the so-called Benedict Arnold Corporations that take advantage of tax laws and provisions here but ship jobs overseas.

Mr Evans, a close and long-time confidant of the President, Mr George W. Bush, took aim at Senator Kerry on the issue. "Those who exercise the freedom to sell American products and services from anywhere in the world aren't `Benedict Arnold' traitors. They are Benjamin Franklin free traders and innovators who recognise that success comes from making the pie bigger, not slicing it even thinner," the senior Cabinet official maintained.

The state of the economy is going to be one of the major factors in this November's Presidential election and already Democrats are making a big fuss over the loss of some three million jobs in the US since mid-2000 and are attacking the Bush administration's free trade policies as a big failure, which has left America with unfair competition from low wage countries. And in an election year there are a raft of legislations and amendments pending in Congress, all focussed on jobs in America.

"By threatening to rescind American leadership in support of a global free market, the President's critics would bar millions of people in poverty from the ladder of opportunity," Mr Evans remarked.