Kerry Says He'll Toughen Trade Deals

LAS VEGAS - Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) says President Bush (news - web sites) has turned his back on the American worker by allowing other countries to break trade deals negotiated with the United States and that as president he would put in place a "common-sense" effort to strengthen the bargaining and enforcement of such agreements.


"When I am president, we will never turn a blind eye to clear trade violations when American jobs are on the line," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said in remarks prepared for delivery Sunday evening at a Teamsters labor conference in Las Vegas.


Kerry was seeking to defuse tensions over trade, which emerged as an issue during the race for the nomination. He was to argue that while there are differences over trade policy, trade deals must be enforced once they are sealed.


"This is not a philosophical question about free trade or protectionism," Kerry said. "It is just a common-sense question — why aren't we enforcing our own laws on behalf of our own workers and businesses."

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