CHICAGO (Reuters) – The United States has yet to outline ideas for protecting workers’ rights or reining in state-owned enterprises in a proposed Transpacific trade pact, despite a mid-November deadline to reach “broad outlines” of a deal, a senior U.S. trade negotiator said on Wednesday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said President Barack Obama’s administration had also not made proposals in the Transpacific Partnership talks for other sensitive topics, such as footwear and dairy, whose U.S. producers are concerned about a crush of imports.

“For all of these sensitive products, we are in close consultations with the stakeholders who have interest in those sectors and we will be negotiating those issues recognizing the sensitivity of those products to the U.S.,” she said.

U.S. textile, lamb, beef and sugar producers are also worried what the agreement to phase out tariffs and other trade barriers could mean for their livelihoods.

Negotiators from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Chile and Peru have been in Chicago since last week for the eighth round of talks on the TPP. Another round is set next month for Peru.

Earlier this year, top trade officials from the TPP countries agreed to strive for the “broad outlines” of a deal by the time Obama hosts the annual summit meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Honolulu November 12-13.

Together, the eight other countries of the TPP would be about the fifth largest U.S. trading partner.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday said the Senate would soon begin debate on a bill to help retrain workers thrown out of work by foreign competition, setting the stage for President Barack Obama to submit three long-delayed trade deals to Congress.

The Nevada Democrat told reporters he would soon bring up legislation for two trade programs — Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), which is a worker retraining program, and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which waives duties on imports from developing countries.

Reid told reporters he would follow that with action on a separate bill to crack down on China currency manipulation.

President Barack Obama has insisted Congress pass TAA along with the trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.

Many Republicans are skeptical of the merits of the nearly 50-year-old retraining and income assistance program and objected to an earlier White House plan to include TAA in the implementing legislation for the South Korean trade deal.

But Representative Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican, said on Tuesday he believed the White House, Senate leaders and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner now have agreed on a “very tight process” for moving the trade deals and a separate bill to renew Trade Adjustment Assistance.”

“I’m optimistic that we can get this done and get this done very soon,” Brady said in remarks to the anti-unilateral sanctions business group, USA Engage.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Trade Representative Ron Kirk said on Monday he was hopeful the Congress would pass long-delayed trade deals with South Korea, Panama and Colombia before the United States hosts an annual summit meeting for Asia-Pacific leaders in November.

“Our goal has always been to get them done as soon as possible and that hasn’t changed,” Kirk told reporters after remarks to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

He declined to give a more precise timetable, saying that depended on how quickly the White House and Congress reached agreement on legislation known as Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) to help workers displaced by foreign competition.

But asked if it would be embarrassing for the United States if the deals weren’t approved by Nov 12-13 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting in President Barack Obama’s home state of Hawaii, Kirk replied: “Well, we’re going to be more optimistic than that.”

South Korea is a member of APEC along with the United States. All three of the pending trade deals were signed more than four years ago but still have not been approved.

Obama, in recent months, has repeatedly called on Congress to pass the agreements. However, Republicans complain that he first needs to send them to Congress.

“Unfortunately we’re still waiting for the president to submit these free trade agreements. If he does that, they’ll pass,” Senator Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said at a hearing on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s administration on Monday sought to allay concerns that its push for stronger drug patent protections in a Transpacific trade deal would raise the cost of life-saving drugs out of the reach of many of the region’s poor people.

“The Obama administration is coordinating and deploying trade policy tools to help reduce potential barriers to access to medicines, while also supporting innovation and the development of new medicines by the U.S. pharmaceutical and other health industries,” the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said in a paper obtained by Reuters.

The United States and eight other countries currently are holding the eighth round of talks on the proposed Transpacific Partnership pact through Thursday in Chicago.

The negotiations are at a critical stage with the countries aiming for the “broad outlines” of a deal by the time Obama hosts the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting November 12-13 in Honolulu.

Groups such as Doctor Without Borders have raised concern about “hard-line intellectual property policies” in the TPP pact that they said could greatly diminish access to affordable medicines for millions of people.

TPP countries include the United States, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Other countries such as Japan, Canada, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines have expressed interest in joining the pact, which proponents hope will eventually be extended to all 21 members of APEC, which also includes China, Russia, Mexico and several other large economies.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Democratic senator on Thursday urged President Barack Obama to use U.S. trade laws to restrict surging imports of solar panels from China in a sign that high U.S. unemployment is increasing trade tensions.

“The American solar industry is facing unparalleled challenges and without the leadership of your administration this industry may disappear leaving behind additional workers without employment,” Senator Ron Wyden said in a letter.

“Letting that happen is unacceptable.”

The plea came just days after solar panel maker Solyndra LLC filed for bankruptcy, becoming the third U.S. solar firm to succumb to pressure from China in recent weeks.

Solyndra said it had been unable to bring down its costs quickly enough to compete with cheaper panels from China despite receiving more than $535 million in U.S. federal loan guarantees.

“Chinese imports of solar panels are surging and are on pace to increase 240 percent this year, compared to 2010,” Wyden said. “Furthermore, imports of Chinese solar panels increased 1,593 percent between 2006 and 2010.”

The Oregon Democrat said the Obama administration had “ample tools” to restrict the imports, including possible anti-dumping or countervailing duties.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly a dozen Republican senators on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama to quickly send Congress three long-delayed trade deals that they said would help put Americans back to work.

“If the president really cares about jobs, he will send up the agreements immediately,” Senator Rob Portman told reporters, referring to deals with South Korea, Panama and Colombia signed more than four years ago.

With Obama set to outline his ideas for reducing high U.S. unemployment in a speech on Thursday night, Senator Mike Johanns urged the president to announce that he will send the pacts to Congress this week.

The senators said they were frustrated that Obama has repeatedly called on lawmakers to approve the trade pacts but still has not formally submitted them to Congress.

“We can’t pass them if you don’t send them up,” Senator Roy Blunt said, noting the trade deals have been on Obama’s desk since he became president in January 2009.

The administration estimates the agreements will boost U.S. exports by about $13 billion, helping to create or sustain about 70,000 jobs.

However, it has delayed sending the agreements to Congress because of its lingering concerns over renewal of an expanded Trade Adjustment Assistance program to help retrain workers who have lost their jobs because of foreign competition.

WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Senior U.S. Democrats urged the Obama administration and Congress to take action againt Chinese trade policies they said are unfairly hurting America’s environmental technology sector and making it harder to create jobs.

“China is systematically deploying an arsenal of trade distorting policies to corner the global market in green technology products, whether it be electric cars, wind turbines or solar products,” Representative Sander Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said in a statement.

“Our efforts to put Americans back to work are made all the more difficult by China’s policies, and it is time we take action to counter them — either through aggressive use of our domestic trade laws or through WTO cases,” Levin said as lawmakers returned from a month-long break.

Last week, Solyndra LLC filed for bankruptcy, becoming the third U.S. solar firm to succumb to pressure from lower-priced Chinese rivals in recent weeks.

Levin is the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade.

Committee Chairman Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican, has promised hearings on China trade concerns but has not committed to passing legislation.

Concern about Beijing’s trade policies is fueled by the huge U.S. trade deficit with China, which hit a record $273 billion in 2010 and could surpass that this year, and by persistently high U.S. unemployment.

WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (Reuters) – After a heated fight this summer over the U.S. debt ceiling, cooler-headed Republicans and Democrats could come together this fall to pass three long-delayed free trade agreements.

But to get past distrust built up on each side, business groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce anticipate a series of votes on related trade issues leading up to the pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, each signed more than four years ago.

The process is expected to begin on Wednesday with action on an expired program that helps domestic manufacturers by waiving duties on goods from developing countries.

Former U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said she was optimistic Congress would soon pass the trade deals but worried the effort could fail if the White House “overplays its hand” on Trade Adjustment Assistance.

The White House and Republicans have locked horns this year over TAA, a longstanding program to help retrain workers who have lost their jobs because of foreign competition.

The program was expanded in 2009 to cover service industry workers and provide more generous benefits. Those reforms have expired, but the core program continues.

Many Republicans, with a strong push from the party’s anti-spending Tea Party wing, question the need for TAA and its effectiveness. Democrats argue it is a key part of the U.S. social safety net.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After a heated fight this summer over the U.S. debt ceiling, cooler-headed Republicans and Democrats could come together this fall to pass three long-delayed free trade agreements.

But to get past distrust built up on each side, business groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce anticipate a series of votes on related trade issues leading up to the pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama, each signed more than four years ago.

The process is expected to begin on Wednesday with action on an expired program that helps domestic manufacturers by waiving duties on goods from developing countries.

Former U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said she was optimistic Congress would soon pass the trade deals but worried the effort could fail if the White House “overplays its hand” on Trade Adjustment Assistance.

The White House and Republicans have locked horns this year over TAA, a longstanding program to help retrain workers who have lost their jobs because of foreign competition.

The program was expanded in 2009 to cover services industry workers and provide more generous benefits. Those reforms have expired, but the core program continues.

Many Republicans, with a strong push from the party’s anti-spending Tea Party wing, question the need for TAA and its effectiveness. Democrats argue it is a key part of the U.S. social safety net.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – After a slow start that has frustrated U.S. business groups, the next four months could be important to President Barack Obama’s legacy on trade.

Obama has a goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2014 but he has not moved as aggressively as his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, to open markets abroad.

This month business groups expect Obama at long last to submit three Bush-era free trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama to Congress for approval.

“We’re quite confident” that Congress has the votes needed to approve the pact, said Frank Vargo, vice president for international economic affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers.

Successful passage by Congress would burnish Obama’s free trade credentials and boost talks on a regional free trade agreement that the White House hopes will establish “21st Century” trade rules in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region.

The plan is for Obama and leaders of the eight other “Trans-Pacific Partnership” countries to shake hands on the broad outlines of a deal in November when the United States hosts the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

The proposed pact would build existing U.S. free trade deals with Australia, Chile, Singapore and Peru into a regional free trade pact that includes Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei Darussalam.