US Senate Democrats back Obama on trade deals delay over worker retaining

Forty-one US Senate Democrats told President Obama they agreed with his decision to not send free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama to Congress until Republicans agree to renew an expanded worker-retraining program.

"We recognize, as you do, that such a deal will be challenging to secure because it requires significant bipartisan commitments in both chambers of Congress to vote in favor of a TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance) extension," the senators said.

The letter from more than three-quarters of the 51 Democrats in the Senate shows the hard bargaining that is still needed to win approval of the free-trade agreements.

Original source: Reuters