This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015. I'm Caleb Brown. The U.S. Trade

agenda long stalled is alive again. The trade agreements these days involve all manner of

demands from intellectual

property protection to labor standards to punishing countries for so-called

currency manipulation. Dan Eekinson directs the Cato Institute's

Trade Policy Studies. He comments on how

Congress and this president should advance free trade. One would think that

with Democratic Congress and a Democratic president that the trade agenda would be alive within the parameters set by Democrats,

but now we have a Republican Congress and a Democratic president and yet for whatever reason the trade

agenda is very much alive. Why is that? Trade is clearly an issue that divides the

Democratic Party and it sort of unifies the Republican Party and you know this president has had sort of a

strange tack with respect to his trade agenda.

He's been very hot and cold.

He has announced initiatives to liberalize trade, but then never talked up the benefits of it.

Never was willing to confront Congress, the leadership in Congress, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed.

In fact, when he became President, the climate in Congress was so anti-trade that the President

didn't even try.

He just sort of capitulated to that environment.

And then he, you know, he just sort of capitulated to that environment. And then he, you know, he responded to the changing context of Congress, you know, the Republicans

took control in 2011, and he suddenly relented and allowed the agenda to move forward but in

fits and starts really. As Bill Watson pointed out in our State of the Union response, this president in his State

of the Union address really gave probably the most anemic defense of trade agreements that could

...