Senator urges US free trade deal with ASEAN

10/10/2009
Source: in.reuters.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior Republican senator called on Friday for a free trade agreement between the United States and countries in Southeast Asia.

"The United States should proceed to develop a comprehensive strategy toward engaging ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in serious FTA discussions," Senator Richard Lugar said in a statement.

The proposal comes at time when many business groups are complaining U.S. President Barack Obama does not have an agenda to open new markets for U.S. exports.

"China, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea have already finalized FTAs with ASEAN and are sharpening a competitive edge over the U.S. in Southeast Asia," Lugar said.
Obama will visit Singapore next month for the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Most of the 10 members of ASEAN -- Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam -- are also members of APEC.

The United States has extensive trade restrictions on Myanmar but "that should not deter U.S. efforts to reach an FTA with the rest of ASEAN," Lugar said.

There was no immediate reaction from U.S. Trade Representative's office to Lugar's proposal, which he said he planned to introduce in the Senate next week.

Former President George W. Bush proposed creating a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific, building on existing free trade pacts with Chile and Singapore.

However, the Obama administration still has not decided whether to proceed with that.

The White House also has not made a push to win approval of free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea left over from the Bush administration.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Bill Trott)