Weekly Address: We Should Make Sure the Future Is Written by Us

Source: White House

In this week’s address, the President underscored the importance of continuing to grow our economy and support good-paying jobs for our workers by opening up new markets for American goods and services.

While America’s businesses, ranchers, and farmers are already exporting goods at record levels, there’s more room for growth with 95 percent of the world’s customers living outside our borders. In order to pursue new trade agreements, the President called on Congress to pass trade promotion authority so that the U.S. -- not China -- can play a leading role in negotiating 21st century trade deals that protect our workers, support good wages, and help grow the middle class.

Read more: http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/weekly-address

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President Obama begins sales pitch on trade to wary U.S. public
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/obama-begins-sales-pitch-trade-110000881.html;_ylt=AwrBEiGegOhUwSQAIW7QtDMD

President Barack Obama on Saturday began a broad sales pitch to the U.S. public about the merits of free trade deals, an area in which he faces stiff resistance from many in his own Democratic party.

Obama has said he wants to work with Congressional Republicans to finalize the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, an agreement that would stretch from Japan to Chile, covering 40 percent of the world economy.

"I'm the first to admit that past trade deals haven't always lived up to the hype," Obama said in his weekly address. "But that doesn't mean we should close ourselves off from new opportunities."

(snip)
"As we speak, China is trying to write the rules for trade in the 21st century," Obama said. "We can't let that happen. We should write those rules."