U.S. lawmakers launch push to repeal NAFTA

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U.S. lawmakers launch push to repeal NAFTA

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2 hours, 15 minutes ago

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A small group of U.S. lawmakers unveiled legislation on

Thursday to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement in the latest

sign of congressional disillusionment with free-trade deals.

The bill spearheaded by Rep. Gene , a Mississippi Democrat, would require

President Barack Obama to give Mexico and Canada six months notice that the

United States will no longer be part of the 16-year-old trade pact.

" At a time when 10 to 12 percent of the American people are unemployed, I think

Congress has an obligation to put people back to work, " said.

He argued NAFTA has cost the United States millions of manufacturing jobs and

hurt national security by encouraging companies to move production to Mexico.

The high unemployment rate makes it the " perfect " time to push for repeal even

though past efforts have failed, he said.

" You'll see the American people rally behind this, in my humble opinion, " said

Rep. Walter , a North Carolina Republican who is one of about 28

co-sponsors of the bill.

Business groups like the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce strongly support NAFTA, which they say has spurred U.S.

economic growth by tearing down trade barriers between the three countries.

The repeal proposal comes as Obama says he wants to resolve problems blocking

congressional approval of long-delayed trade deals with South Korea, Panama and

Colombia.

The strongest opposition to those agreements comes from Obama's fellow

Democrats.

The United States also will begin talks later this month with Australia, New

Zealand, Singapore, Chile, Peru, Vietnam and Brunei on an Asia-Pacific regional

free-trade agreement.

Obama criticized NAFTA during the 2008 presidential election campaign but has

not followed through on threats to withdraw from the agreement if Canada and

Mexico did not agree to revamp the pact's labor and environmental provisions.

But many Democrats are pushing for that and other changes to existing trade

deals before considering any new deals such as the deals with South Korea,

Colombia and Panama.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote later this year on whether the

United States should remain a member of the World Trade Organization.

U.S. law allows House and Senate members to request a vote on that issue every

five years. In 2005, 86 of the House's 435 members voted to withdraw from the

world trade body.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Stacey Joyce)