President Obama in Asia – What was accomplished?

White House Photograph

Presidential trips like the one President Obama finished up this week aren’t necessarily commonplace. But they aren’t out of the ordinary either.

They offer the U.S. President the opportunity to build personal relationships with foreign heads of state, hammer out important diplomatic compromises and build goodwill around the world. Did President Obama do any of this on his swing through Asia?

An honest answer would be yes, no and maybe. President Obama has developed a working relationship with the President of South Korea, which they both acknowledged in a press conference late Wednesday. The President, however, accomplished very little in the way of details, especially regarding the presence of U.S. troops in Japan, which was taken off the agenda all together because lower-level staffers couldn’t come to terms. Lastly, President Obama was greeted with a mixed reception around the region – cheers in Singapore, censorship in China.

The fruit from a trip like this may take some time to bear out, so it’s hard to say in the end what he really accomplished.

Is the President committed to free trade with Asia?

President Obama has become a vocal supporter of a free trade deal between the United States and South Korea. In his trip to Asia, and in an interview with Fox News (*gasp*), the President said he is committed to the deal and will push for its ratification in the Senate.

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged Thursday morning to ratify a free-trade agreement with South Korea that has been stuck for two years, challenging the U.S. Congress to separate South Korea from other Asian nations enjoying vast trade surpluses with the U.S.

“In the United States, there is a misperception that the [free-trade agreement] once passed will only benefit Korea and will be detrimental to American consumers, which is not true,” Mr. Lee said.

Mr. Lee characterized as “minuscule” the trade surplus that South Korea has with the U.S., a characterization Mr. Obama agreed with. The U.S. president challenged Congress, which is run by his own party, to show more sophistication on trade issues.

“There’s a tendency to lump all of Asia together when Congress looks at trade agreements and says it appears this is a one-way street,” Mr. Obama said.

South Korea’s trade surplus with the U.S. last year was $13.3 billion out of total trade of $81.5 billion, according to U.S. figures.

The free-trade agreement, the largest the U.S. has negotiated since the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico in the early 1990s, is expected to boost that more than $80 billion in annual two-way trade between South Korea and the U.S. by $10 billion to $20 billion about five years after ratification.

Free trade is a good thing. A deal with South Korea will do a lot for the U.S. in a region where they are rapidly falling behind when it comes to trade liberalization.

Economic liberalization has been at the heart of U.S. foreign policy since 1918. We’ve promoted the idea of open markets across the world for almost a century because they bring prosperity and wealth to the masses. It has long been conventional wisdom that the U.S. would prosper most in a world economy where free trade is possible.

Labor unions and protectionist thought has taken over and so instead of prosperity, we’re falling behind at our own game.

Despite the rhetoric, I still question if the President is serious about trade liberalization with Asia. The tariff on Chinese tires earlier this year says a lot about who has his ear.