Obama Could Signal Change On Trade With USTR Nomination
Becerra, whose name emerged this week as a top contender for U.S. Trade Representative, met with Obama on Thursday in Chicago, said Fabiola Rodriguez, the congressman's spokeswoman, though she declined to discuss the nature of the visit.
An Obama spokesman said the transition team wasn't commenting on the president-elect's private meetings.
Becerra has a mixed record on trade, expressing regret for his vote in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 and opposing the 2005 Central American Free Trade Agreement and the pending trade deal with Colombia. But he also voted for free trade agreements with Peru and Chile, and to establish permanent normal trade relations with China in 2000.
Picking Becerra would suggest that Obama intends to fulfill his pledge during the campaign to make trade more fair by stepping up enforcement and helping displaced workers, supporters say.
"Becerra really has been a key part of developing a new trade policy, so we feel that he would be an excellent USTR," said Hilarie Chambers, chief of staff for Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee with Becerra and heads the trade subcommittee.
"He's for trade that we get right," said Chambers.
Reports that Becerra was being considered for the post have generated some fears of isolationism, with the editorial page of The Los Angeles Times calling him "a leader of the Democratic Party's protectionist wing" and a "terrible choice."
Reaction among labor unions to the potential nomination has been much more enthusiastic than business groups. Yet industry lobbyists have generally expressed a willingness to work with the new administration.
"It's certainly not a concern," said Michael Petricone, senior vice president of government affairs at the Consumer Electronics Association.
Obama campaigned on increasing U.S. engagement with the rest of the world, he said, and trade is one of the few bright spots of the sagging economy.
"I would hope that whoever he picks for USTR understands that trade will be essential to our economic recovery," Petricone said.
While Petricone declined to speculate on Becerra's likely policy agenda, he noted that trade is a major economic engine in California and that the congressman has voted in favor of a number of trade agreements.
Thea Lee, policy director for the AFL-CIO labor federation, praised Becerra for being a strong advocate for workers' rights in trade agreements but said his views have evolved over the years with the changing times.
"He's certainly someone with whom we have a friendly and constructive relationship, even if we don't agree on every single issue," she said.
It's not clear that Becerra would accept the post if offered, however, since he was just elected vice chairman of the Democratic caucus.
In addition, his role in the commutation of a convicted cocaine dealer's prison sentence during the Clinton administration would likely come up during a confirmation hearing. Becerra has defended himself by saying that he wasn't pushing for a commutation of the 15-year sentence of Carlos Vignali but rather just a review of the case.
-By Tom Barkley, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9275; tom.barkley@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 05, 2008 16:58 ET (21:58 GMT)
Publié le 05 Décembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones
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