The Walls Come Tumbling Down : Gephardt wisely drops protectionist stance

House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt made an astute decision when he endorsed President Bush’s free-trade talks with Mexico. The Missouri Democrat showed courage, and even a little vision, in tempering his usual get-tough trade policy for the sake of helping promote Bush’s ambitious plan for a North America free-trade system that will eventually include Canada.

With Gephardt’s help, the chances are better that Congress will give Bush a free hand to negotiate a Mexican trade pact along a “fast track.” Gephardt is the last of three key congressional leaders who oversee trade issues--Sen. Lloyd Bensten (D-Texas) and Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) are the others--to throw his support to the President’s request for a two-year extension of fast-track authority. The procedure allows the President to negotiate international trade agreements, which Congress can then either adopt or reject, but cannot amend.

If Congress goes along with Bush’s fast track request it would cover not only the vital Mexican trade negotiations, but a new global trade pact being negotiated in Geneva. It would give the United States the necessary clout to get respect--and, more important, results--in both sets of negotiations.

Gephardt is an unlikely ally in this case because of his past protectionist stance. When he was a presidential candidate in 1988, a cornerstone of Gephardt’s campaign was advocating trade restrictions against economic rivals in Asia, especially Japan. He argued that the restrictions would save U.S. jobs and industries, which were being lost to unfair foreign competition. He had expressed those same fears about Mexico, but they were assuaged by Bush’s pledge on May 1 to take specific steps to protect American workers and the environment before any free-trade pact goes into effect.

Gephardt’s shift on Mexico is a significant defeat for organized labor, which has been among the congressman’s biggest supporters. Labor leaders fiercely oppose the proposed Mexican trade pact because they’re convinced it will lead U.S. companies to flee south of the border in search of low-wage labor. That overlooks the fact any trade pact will be phased in over a 10-year period. More important, it ignores the fact that free trade with Mexico will help the U.S. economy in the long run by generating more jobs for workers in this country than our recession-bound economy currently can. More goods and commodities shipped south of the border will also mean a reduction in the U.S. deficit and fewer illegal immigrants from Mexico looking for work up here.

Throwing the Mexican trade talks off track is the last thing the fragile U.S. economy needs right now. Gephardt has recognized this and his example should be followed by all the die-hard protectionists in Congress. Provincialism simply will not bring prosperity in a global market. Keeping the United States competitive requires reaching outward to our trading partners. Our closest trading partner is Mexico, so that’s the place to start building a free-trade system for the next century.