Ron Kirk: U.S. to Tackle Hefty Trade Agenda
(The Hill – Vicki Needham)
U.S. trade officials are expecting to cut a wide swath through a broad trade agenda this year, all probably before Congress leaves town in August.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk has three major issues on his agenda — implementing the three free-trade agreements passed last fall, opening up the Russian market to U.S. goods and services and wrapping up negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Russia’s ascension to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is topping the agenda for the Obama administration and business groups. “It’s our top trade legislative priority for the year,” Chris Wenk, senior director for International Policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told The Hill on Friday. The Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade — a group of businesses pushing for the changes needed to move forward — is “starting an aggressive ramp up reaching out to the Hill,” he said. Read more here.
Date: January 31, 2012
