Obama to unveil trade policy agenda ahead of G-20 summit

Obama will elaborate on his trade policy before the G-20 summit to be held September 24-25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk told reporters.

“I will not prejudge what the president might do,” Kirk said when asked to give a glimpse of Obama’s expected trade statement.

“I think it would be more an illumination of how this president, this administration sees trade as in the integral part our overall economic strategy,” he said.

Kirk said that Obama had already laid a broad framework for US trade policy but added, “I do think the president will have more to say about the role trade will play in our overall economic recovery sometime between now and the G-20 summit.”

Since taking office in January, Obama has not made any major trade policy decisions, including pushing ahead with legislative steps to implement free trade agreements with key partners that had already been signed.

His administration is still trying to finalise a trade pact with Panama and resolve outstanding issues over similar long-delayed pacts with Colombia and South Korea.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama on Tuesday hailed the first growth in the US manufacturing sector after 18 punishing months of decline as a sign of recovery and proof his economic policies were working.

Obama spoke after the Institute of Supply Management said its index of the factory sector, also

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