Modernity's pace seems too quick for some, but the keen reader would have noted that in my opening agreement I put the Muslim in scare quotes.
"I firmly believe that a process of competitive liberalization will enhance our ability" to negotiate broader market-opening agreements, Mr. Zoellick told reporters in Singapore today.
[C1.] Before Close Vote on Trade, Intense Deal-Making The cliffhanger House vote to approve the Central America Free Trade Agreement was one of the most wrenching in Congress this year, and it highlighted the messy compromises that were necessary to overcome deep antagonism in many quarters toward trade-opening agreements.
Without such negotiating power -- long known as fast-track but now renamed trade promotion authority -- it could be hard to persuade trading partners to come to the table prepared for serious give-and-take on tariff reduction and market-opening agreements.
But you can forget trade-opening agreements.
Right now, the largest percentage of Americans since the 1960s are against further trade-opening agreements.
Any hope for immigration reform is now dead in Congress, and further trade-opening agreements are similarly moribund.
The market-opening agreement was reached in principle this week after talks between the United States trade representative, Charlene Barshefsky, and Vietnam's trade minister, Vu Khoan.
Supporters say passage would allow American companies to benefit fully from a market-opening agreement connected with China's bid to enter the World Trade Organization.
The step is required if United States companies are to benefit fully from a market-opening agreement the administration negotiated as part of China's continuing effort to join the World Trade Organization.
Critics of the measure, which would allow American companies to benefit fully from a market-opening agreement that would pave the way for China to enter the World Trade Organization, say it would sacrifice lawmakers' influence over Beijing's record on human rights and religious freedoms.
