President George W. Bush's remarks on trade to the Council of America's early last week and his request to Congress for Trade Promotion Authority (formerly called "Fast Track") later in the week signal an important new step in expanding the trade relationship between Japan and the United States, and with the rest of the world.
Clearly, Bush has an uphill battle before him, with organized labor opposed to any attempt to expand trade, much of America in fear of what trade might bring, and some key environmental groups opposed to any agreement that does not impose environmental restrictions on the countries with which we trade.
The encouraging part of all this is that Bush is taking risks because he, like President Clinton, knows how important trade is to the U.S. economy and to the world. Unlike his predecessor, he is making this one of his highest priorities. If he gets the authority he is asking for it is incumbent upon Japan to start taking a greater leadership role in the World Trade Organization and the talks continuing from the meetings in Singapore and Seattle.