Bush Hosts New Orleans Summit With Canada, Mexico; Defends NAFTA

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President George Bush found allies to join his pro-trade agenda on Tuesday as he ended a two-day summit with Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexico's President Felipe Calderon in New Orleans.

"Mexico, Canada and the United States made a bold decision in the early 1990s. Our countries decided to reduce our trade barriers through the North American Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA]," the President said during a press conference held after the 2008 North American Leaders' Summit.

"That was a visionary move by previous leaders, a move that has benefited all three of our countries - a lot," he continued. "Trade has tripled. Our economies have grown by more than 50 percent."

"Now is not the time to renegotiate NAFTA or walk away from NAFTA," President Bush added. "Now is the time to make it work better for all our people, and now is the time to reduce trade barriers worldwide."

The President said he was equally concerned about the Colombian Free Trade Agreement, and repeated his calls for congress to act on the treaty.

Provisions of the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) were finalized in July 2006. Most Democrats oppose enacting the treaty with a nation known for its bad record on human rights. Many unions are also worried about how opening up trade will affect employment and the currently weak U.S. economy.

The House voted 224-195 on April 10 to delay a vote on the treaty after the President sent it to Congress despite warnings from House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that the directive from the White House to act on the agreement within 90 days was "a breach of protocol."

NAFTA, on the other hand, has been criticized for harming the manufacturing industries causing widespread unemployment among blue-collar workers. with the entry of inexpensive imported goods.

When asked about whether the anti-NAFTA rhetoric of Democratic presidential hopefuls was causing him to lose public support for the treaty, the President simply repeated his earlier statements and added, "I'm concerned about protectionism in America. It's not in our interest to become a protectionist nation."

Harper and Calderon were more forthright in their responses.

"We've had a very productive relationship with President Bush and his administration," Harper said. "And I trust that this will continue, that it will continue with any of the presidential candidates here in the United States."

"It is not my role to talk to the three candidates or pre-candidates to the presidency," Calderon responded. "All I would do is speak to the person who will eventually be the President of the United States, and we will speak openly and sincerely about the future of both of our countries, or in this case, our three countries in the trilateral meetings that we hold."