President Barack Obama called on Saturday for new efforts to open global markets to US goods, highlighting trade before a big speech on Tuesday that will lay out his policy priorities for the coming year. With the US unemployment rate stuck at a stubbornly high 9.4 percent, Obama said expanded trade was crucial to job creation.
"If we're serious about fighting for American jobs and American businesses, one of the most important things we can do is open up more markets to American goods around the world," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. His remarks came after Chinese President Hu Jintao completed a four-day US visit that included talks at the White House dominated by trade and economic issues.
Hu's visit required Obama to carefully calibrate the message about the US-China relationship to his domestic audience. Many Americans are fearful that China's powerhouse manufacturing sector poses a threat to US jobs, but the world's two biggest economies are becoming increasingly intertwined. The United States runs an annual trade deficit with China approaching $270 billion.
Obama said the $100 billion in annual US exports to China was a source of jobs at home. He also touted the $45 billion in commercial deals announced during Hu's visit as well as agreements reached by US and Indian firms during his November trip to Mumbai.Obama offered few specifics about his trade agenda but mentioned a bilateral trade agreement he reached late last year with South Korea in a signal he will make a vigorous push for its ratification in the US Congress. He is scheduled to deliver his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday.