WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top Republican lawmaker Wednesday said he planned to turn up the pressure on China over a long list of trade “abuses” after Congress returns from its upcoming August recess.

“China … flagrantly disregards its international obligations and seeks to impede fair commerce at every opportunity,” House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp said in a speech.

Camp told reporters he was concerned about Beijing’s currency practices, which many U.S. lawmakers and economists believe gives Chinese companies an unfair advantage.

But he said Congress had made a mistake in the past by focusing exclusively on that issue when there were “far larger” concerns. He promised a broad hearing on China trade concerns before deciding if legislation was needed.

“China blatantly steals the intellectual property of American businesses and grossly subsidizes domestic industries — and its list of trade abuses goes on and on,” he said.

Shortly after Camp’s speech, the Senate unanimously approved outgoing Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be the next U.S. ambassador to China.

Locke, a former Washington state governor, has pledged to press China to open its market to more U.S. goods and services, move to a more flexible currency exchange rate and increase action against counterfeiting of American products.

WASHINGTON, July 27 (Reuters) – A top U.S. Republican lawmaker on Wednesday said he planned to turn up the pressure on China over a long list of trade “abuses” after Congress returns from its upcoming August recess.

“China … flagrantly disregards its international obligations and seeks to impede fair commerce at every opportunity,” House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp said in a speech.

Camp told reporters he was concerned about Beijing’s currency practices, which many U.S. lawmakers and economists believe gives Chinese companies an unfair advantage.

But he said Congress had made a mistake in the past by focusing exclusively on that issue when there were “far larger” concerns. He promised a broad hearing on China trade concerns before deciding if legislation was needed.

“China blatantly steals the intellectual property of American businesses and grossly subsidizes domestic industries – and its list of trade abuses goes on and on,” he said.

Shortly after Camp’s speech, the Senate unanimously approved outgoing Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be the next U.S. ambassador to China.

Locke, a former Washington state governor, has pledged to press China to open its market to more U.S. goods and services, move to a more flexible currency exchange rate and increase action against counterfeiting of American products.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top Republican lawmaker on Wednesday outlined a plan for winning approval of three long-delayed trade agreements and a worker retraining program the White House has insisted Congress pass along with them.

Representative Dave Camp, who chairs the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, urged President Barack Obama to back the step-by-step plan.

It is intended to assure Democrats that the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program for workers displaced by international trade would not be killed during action on the South Korea, Colombia and Panama deals.

“I think now we have set out a framework that is reasonable, that will ensure that TAA is done and that the agreements are voted on,” Camp told reporters after a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“I’m hopeful that now that we have this path forward, (the White House) will sign on to it,” Camp said.

But both a Senate Democratic aide and an Obama administration official said there still was no final agreement on the sequence for voting on TAA and the trade pacts in the Republican-led House and the Democratic-led Senate.

Democrats view TAA as a vital part of the U.S. social safety net, while many Republicans — especially those elected last year on promises to cut government spending — question its effectiveness and cost.

WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said on Tuesday he is optimistic Congress will pass free trade pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama shortly after lawmakers return in September from a month-long recess.

President Barack Obama had hoped to win approval of the three agreements before the August break but Republicans balked at a White House plan to include an extension of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program for displaced workers in the implementing legislation for the South Korea pact.

“We believe we have a framework for an agreement that will allow us very quickly when Congress reconvenes in September to approve and have a vote on Trade Adjustment Assistance and allow us to move forward with passage of the free trade agreements at the same time,” Kirk said in a speech.

Kirk said the Obama administration had been working with congressional leaders in both parties to find a path forward on TAA and the trade pacts, telling reporters after the speech there were still a few more details to nail down.

Republicans demanded a separate vote on TAA, which provides retraining and income assistance for workers who lost jobs due to trade. Many Democrats fear Republican foes of TAA will kill the program if it is not shielded by the South Korea pact.

Democrats say TAA is a vital part of the U.S. social safety net but many Republicans question its effectiveness and cost.

The White House has insisted on renewal of TAA in conjunction with the trade pacts, although it did agree on a package of reforms to scale back the program from levels approved in the 2009 economic stimulus bill.

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) – Senator Rob Portman on Wednesday urged President Barack Obama to quickly send three long-delayed free-trade pacts to Congress for approval, rather than wait until after the August congressional recess.

Portman, a former U.S. trade representative under President George W. Bush, also said 12 Republican senators have agreed to support an extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance, a worker retraining program that Obama has insisted be approved along with the pacts.

That, combined with the 53 votes in the Democratic caucus, would be enough to ensure that Republican opponents of Trade Adjustment Assistance in the Senate can not block it, he said.

“Mr. President, please tear down these walls. Send these agreements forward,” Portman said, echoing late President Ronald Reagan’s call for the Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall.

“If we don’t (pass the agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama) now, my fear is that over the August break there will be additional pressure from those who oppose the agreements,” said Portman, an Ohio Republican.

The administration has hoped to win approval of the three trade deals before the August recess but with each passing day that looks increasingly doubtful, due in large part to intense negotiations on a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling by Aug. 2 that is occupying both the White House and Congress.

While Portman may have enough votes to overcome an initial procedural effort to kill Trade Adjustment Assistance, Democratic sources said a Senate leadership deal is needed to give the White House confidence the program will survive a prolonged Senate debate.

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) – The Obama administration hopes to announce soon a deal with congressional Republicans to clear the way for votes on three long-delayed free trade agreements, the top U.S. trade official said on Wednesday.

The administration had hoped to win approval of the trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama before the August congressional recess. But a disagreement with Republicans over a worker retraining program called Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) has threatened that.

“We are working so that we can very quickly announce a process on how we will be able to move that forward,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in at a speech at a gathering of insurance companies, banks, express delivery firms and other service sector businesses.

“I am still confident we are going to get these agreements passed, and we’re going to get them passed sooner rather than later,” Kirk said.

Republicans have objected to a White House plan to include an extension of the TAA program in the implementing legislation for the South Korea pact, and have demanded a separate vote on the legislation. But Democrats fear the program will be killed if not shielded by the South Korea pact.

Kirk said the administration is working with congressional leaders to resolve that issue.

TAA is a nearly 50-year-old retraining and income assistance program to help workers who have lost their jobs due to foreign competition.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will soon send free-trade pacts with Colombia, South Korea and Panama to Congress for votes, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley said on Tuesday, but doubts are building on its passage.

Daley, who last week said it was urgent Congress pass the measures before its August recess, told reporters it was possible that work on the bills could stretch beyond that.

“I don’t know if (they will) be approved by August but we’re moving forward on them,” he said after a speech at a Commerce Department conference on the Obama administration’s efforts to reform export controls on high-tech goods.

Dark clouds were also building for the FTA in Seoul, where the main opposition party has taken another step toward blocking its ratification by listing a series of points it wants renegotiated.

The Democratic Party said the Lee administration had made too many concessions to Washington in last year’s renegotiated deal, but the ruling party vowed to push the deal through parliament in August.

Thousands of farmers took to Seoul’s streets last month saying the FTA will allow the entry of cheaper foreign farm produce.

Both Daley and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk have said quick approval of the pacts is needed to ensure U.S. exporters do not lose market share to Canada and the European Union, which have pursued their own deals with the countries.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama Friday urged Republicans to pave the way for quick approval of trade deals with Colombia, South Korea and Panama by cooperating with the White House to extend a program to help workers who have lost their job because of trade.

“I’ve got three trade deals, sitting ready to go. These are all trade deals that Republicans told me were their top priorities. They told me this would be one of the best job creators we could have,” Obama said at a news conference

“And yet it’s still being held up because some folks don’t want to provide Trade Adjustment Assistance to people who may be displaced as a consequence of trade. Surely we can come up with a compromise to solve those problems,” he said.

Trade Adjustment Assistance is a nearly 50-year-old program that provides retraining and income assistance to help workers who have lost their jobs because of foreign competition.

Congress has modified the program over the years, most recently in 2009 when it was expanded to cover additional workers and provide more generous healthcare assistance.

The new benefits expired early this year when many newly elected Tea Party conservatives objected to the approximately $1 billion annual cost of the expanded program.

Obama administration officials warned Republicans in May the White House would not send the trade deals to Congress for a vote until there was deal to renew the expired TAA benefits.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will soon send a free trade pact with South Korea to Congress for approval despite Republican threats to vote against it because of a retraining program for workers displaced by trade, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley said on Thursday.

“There is no time to waste fighting politics as usual,” Daley said in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the U.S.-Korea Business Council. “If we do not act before the August recess, American business will suffer.”

Obama faces a showdown with Republicans over his insistence that an extension of the nearly 50-year-old Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) retraining program be passed along with the Korea pact and two other pending free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama.

Republicans have objected to Obama’s plan to insert the TAA program into the implementing bill for the South Korea agreement, insisting that lawmakers be allowed to vote separately on the TAA and the trade pact.

The White House believes both could pass separately.

However, Daley said Republicans have yet to offer a “credible” plan that would prevent TAA opponents from blocking a vote on the program, which Democrats see as a vital safety net and many Republicans view as ineffective.

“We can no longer wait. If there’s no agreement on an alternative approach in the very near future, we will move forward to seek passage of the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) with TAA” included, Daley told the audience of U.S. and Korean business officials.