A Shift in Bush's Trade Politics.

The political tide has shifted against trade deals, and the Bush administration signaled yesterday that it is changing in response.

Public opinion polls show rising discontent with globalization among Republicans and Democrats alike. Democrats in Congress say they won't approve deals to liberalize trade with three Latin American countries unless the agreements include safeguards for the environment and organized labor. With 15 months left in office, the Bush administration's remaining time to notch foreign policy victories is running short. [...]

Now, administration officials are "trying to shape the arguments on trade in ways that appeal to the internationalists in both parties," said Grant D. Aldonas, a trade official in the early years of the Bush administration who is now a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "They're recognizing the reality they're in and starting to figure out how to adjust to it."

Read the article