Since taking office in January 2000, President George W Bush has signed many free trade agreements (FTAs), many with a number of unexpected countries and most of which have received little to no media coverage.  Below is a list of the countries the United States has free trade agreements with:

            Australia                       Bahrain             Chile                Jordan

            Israel                            Panama            Morocco          Singapore

            South Africa

The president is also pushing initiatives for the United States to sign a number of other FTAs including:

Free Trade of the Americas

This free trade agreement extends the trade liberalization of NAFTA throughout North, Central, and South America.

 http://www.ftaa-alca.org/alca_e.asp

ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam)

 http://www.aseansec.org/home.htm

Free Trade Relations with the Middle East

source: www.ustr.com

President Bush has also supported and strongly encouraged China’s entry into the WTO.

Not all of the president’s policies have been pro-free trade however.  When it is politically convenient, President Bush has succumbed to protectionist pressures.  This occurred both in the steel industry and the lumber industry.  The president slapped 30% tariffs on all foreign steel in 2002 to protect American steelworkers, and tariffs average 29% on Canadian softwood in 2002 as well.

Find more information at:    www.ustr.com