Senate gives Bush power on trade deals

The US Senate has handed President George W. Bush a major victory by approving a Bill that, for the first time in eight years, would give the White House broad powers to negotiate new trade agreements.

The Senate voted 66-30 to pass the trade promotion authority package, which also boosts aid for workers who have lost their jobs because of increased imports and renews trade benefits to help Colombia and other Andean nations create jobs and reduce coca production.

The vote brings President Bush a giant step closer to a prize he has sought since taking office 16 months ago. But top Bush aides have said they would recommend a veto unless a Senate provision that shielded US anti-dumping laws from changes in trade deals was dropped during negotiations with the House of Representatives on a final compromise bill.

The legislation would allow President Bush to negotiate trade agreements Congress could approve or reject, but not amend.

Supporters say that, without the authority, other countries would refuse to negotiate seriously with the United States because Congress could change any pact.

President Bush, who was in Moscow for a four-day summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, hailed the Senate vote as "a critical step in advancing America's trade agenda and strengthening the US economy".

He said it would send "an important signal to our trading partners that we are committed to free and open trade".

President Bush has faced worldwide criticism in recent months over decisions many see at odds with free trade principles. Those include imposing tariffs of up to 30 per cent on steel imports and signing new farm legislation doling out billions of new subsidies to US farmers.

President Bush wants the trade bill to help create the world's largest free-trade zone by expanding the North American Free Trade Agreement to 31 additional countries in the Western Hemisphere by the end of his first term in January 2005. He also hopes to complete a new round of world trade talks by that time.

The White House has not had the trade authority - also known as "fast track" - since April 1994, mainly because of labour and environmental concerns, which have reduced Democratic party support for the Bill, especially in the House.

AFL-CIO union president Mr John Sweeney blasted the vote as "a shortsighted decision which once again places big business interests over workers' rights and the environment".