"The opportunity to succeed in a fair and open market should be reflected in the policies we have with these countries," Daley wrote Baucus and Rangel.

And Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villagairosa called the South Korea FTA a " valuable opportunity" in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of the California delegation.

South Korea is Los Angeles's third largest trading partner, with nearly $18 billion annually in two-way trade, Villagairosa wrote.

The tension between these prominent mayors and some congressional Democrats is one of the undercurrents in the busy Fall trade agenda.

Democrats also want to reauthorize and expand a number of programs aiding workers who lose their jobs due to overseas trade. Also on tap is legislation targeting China for alleged abuses, which is expected to advance at least in the House.

In addition, there's legislation renewing the president's fast-track trade promotion authority, which gives the president the right to demand a single up or down vote by Congress on trade deals.

President George W. Bush wants fast-track reauthorized and all four trade agreements - Peru, Columbia, Panama and South Korea - ratified.

"The Congress needs to carry out its responsibilities and approve these agreements," Bush said after an Aug. 8 meeting with his economic team. Bush says free trade is the best way to expand markets for America's goods and services, which in turn will help the nation overcome its economic challenges.

While Congress would likely approve the Peru and Panama agreements, neither the Columbia nor South Korea agreements would prevail if forced to a vote today, industry experts say.

The hurdle for Columbia remains congressional concern about violence in the country. A dispute over beef and a deal on U.S. auto exports opposed by Detroit are holding up the South Korean trade agreement.

But the White House hasn't settled on a strategy for getting all four agreements ratified.

Administration officials are hinting that Bush won't send Congress the Panama FTA until lawmakers agreed to ratify the Columbia FTA. Most observers say that would be a mistake.

"I don't think they are in a political position to do any strong-arming any more," said Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a business-backed advocacy group.

Rensch said he thinks U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab likely realizes that forcing an immediate vote on Columbia would lead to its defeat. But, Reinsch said, "I don't know that White House has the same clear-eyed tactical judgment she does."

Reinsch and one aide for the Senate Finance Committee predicted a vote on the Columbia FTA could come in 2008.

"Columbia needs time to make progress in prosecuting and convicting folks responsible for labor violence," said the Finance Committee aide.

One administration official conceded that they might have to show Congress evidence that Columbia is curbing violence, but the aide said that could be accomplished in weeks not months.

Likely Attempts at Horse-Trading Muddy Trade Outlook

Earlier this year, some in the Bush administration had envisioned a broad trade deal with Democrats. The White House would support the worker assistance programs, known as trade adjustment assistance or TAA, if Congress extended Bush's fast track trade promotion authority.

Since then, all but a few die-hards at the White House have conceded fast- track is dead for the year.

Congress's vote to hand over trade negotiation rights to the White House has always been contentious, so most argue there is little reason to try to force the fight when the four pending trade agreements already qualify for fast-track protections and there are no other viable trade agreements in the works.

Now the question for the White House is for what to barter the president's support for the TAA programs.

Baucus has written a bill that would extend TAA to service sector workers and workers whose companies shift jobs to non-FTA countries such as China and India. The bill also would allow workers to be certified as eligible for assistance on an industry-wide basis, rather than requiring factories to seek certification individually.

Rangel plans to write his own version of the bill. It will likely also expand TAA to service sector workers and ease access to an existing health care tax credit for displaced workers.

Rangel has told the White House he'll move the Panama and Peru FTA's if Bush will back the TAA bill, according to aides familiar with the negotiations.

But administration counters that Rangel already agreed to back Panama and Peru when the White House this spring agreed to add labor and environmental standards to those and all future FTA's, the aides said.

Given the political sensitivity of free trade, Bush may have no choice but to sign the TAA bill, some predicted.

The administration official said they are still considering their options.

"There is no answer yet," the official said.

The thorniest issue of all may be Congress's efforts to force the Bush Administration to retaliate against alleged trade and currency abuses by China.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has warned that such legislation would be counterproductive. China has already warned through indirect channels that it might sell off its U.S. bond holdings in counter-retaliation.

Reinsch joined Paulson in questioning the currency bills' wisdom.

"The Chinese will retaliate," Reinsch said. "They won't sell off their bonds, but that doesn't mean they won't overreact."

Still, this is a hot issue in Congress. Test votes suggest substantial support in both the House and Senate.

"Leadership in both chambers want to do something and ... something is going to pass," said the Senate Finance Committee aide. "Whether that has sunk in in Beijing or not, I don't know."

-By John Godfrey, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; John.Godfrey@dowjones.com

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And Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villagairosa called the South Korea FTA a " valuable opportunity" in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of the California delegation.

South Korea is Los Angeles's third largest trading partner, with nearly $18 billion annually in two-way trade, Villagairosa wrote.

The tension between these prominent mayors and some congressional Democrats is one of the undercurrents in the busy Fall trade agenda.

Democrats also want to reauthorize and expand a number of programs aiding workers who lose their jobs due to overseas trade. Also on tap is legislation targeting China for alleged abuses, which is expected to advance at least in the House.

In addition, there's legislation renewing the president's fast-track trade promotion authority, which gives the president the right to demand a single up or down vote by Congress on trade deals.

President George W. Bush wants fast-track reauthorized and all four trade agreements - Peru, Columbia, Panama and South Korea - ratified.

"The Congress needs to carry out its responsibilities and approve these agreements," Bush said after an Aug. 8 meeting with his economic team. Bush says free trade is the best way to expand markets for America's goods and services, which in turn will help the nation overcome its economic challenges.

While Congress would likely approve the Peru and Panama agreements, neither the Columbia nor South Korea agreements would prevail if forced to a vote today, industry experts say.

The hurdle for Columbia remains congressional concern about violence in the country. A dispute over beef and a deal on U.S. auto exports opposed by Detroit are holding up the South Korean trade agreement.

But the White House hasn't settled on a strategy for getting all four agreements ratified.

Administration officials are hinting that Bush won't send Congress the Panama FTA until lawmakers agreed to ratify the Columbia FTA. Most observers say that would be a mistake.

"I don't think they are in a political position to do any strong-arming any more," said Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a business-backed advocacy group.

Rensch said he thinks U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab likely realizes that forcing an immediate vote on Columbia would lead to its defeat. But, Reinsch said, "I don't know that White House has the same clear-eyed tactical judgment she does."

Reinsch and one aide for the Senate Finance Committee predicted a vote on the Columbia FTA could come in 2008.

"Columbia needs time to make progress in prosecuting and convicting folks responsible for labor violence," said the Finance Committee aide.

One administration official conceded that they might have to show Congress evidence that Columbia is curbing violence, but the aide said that could be accomplished in weeks not months.

Likely Attempts at Horse-Trading Muddy Trade Outlook

Earlier this year, some in the Bush administration had envisioned a broad trade deal with Democrats. The White House would support the worker assistance programs, known as trade adjustment assistance or TAA, if Congress extended Bush's fast track trade promotion authority.

Since then, all but a few die-hards at the White House have conceded fast- track is dead for the year.

Congress's vote to hand over trade negotiation rights to the White House has always been contentious, so most argue there is little reason to try to force the fight when the four pending trade agreements already qualify for fast-track protections and there are no other viable trade agreements in the works.

Now the question for the White House is for what to barter the president's support for the TAA programs.

Baucus has written a bill that would extend TAA to service sector workers and workers whose companies shift jobs to non-FTA countries such as China and India. The bill also would allow workers to be certified as eligible for assistance on an industry-wide basis, rather than requiring factories to seek certification individually.

Rangel plans to write his own version of the bill. It will likely also expand TAA to service sector workers and ease access to an existing health care tax credit for displaced workers.

Rangel has told the White House he'll move the Panama and Peru FTA's if Bush will back the TAA bill, according to aides familiar with the negotiations.

But administration counters that Rangel already agreed to back Panama and Peru when the White House this spring agreed to add labor and environmental standards to those and all future FTA's, the aides said.

Given the political sensitivity of free trade, Bush may have no choice but to sign the TAA bill, some predicted.

The administration official said they are still considering their options.

"There is no answer yet," the official said.

The thorniest issue of all may be Congress's efforts to force the Bush Administration to retaliate against alleged trade and currency abuses by China.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has warned that such legislation would be counterproductive. China has already warned through indirect channels that it might sell off its U.S. bond holdings in counter-retaliation.

Reinsch joined Paulson in questioning the currency bills' wisdom.

"The Chinese will retaliate," Reinsch said. "They won't sell off their bonds, but that doesn't mean they won't overreact."

Still, this is a hot issue in Congress. Test votes suggest substantial support in both the House and Senate.

"Leadership in both chambers want to do something and ... something is going to pass," said the Senate Finance Committee aide. "Whether that has sunk in in Beijing or not, I don't know."

-By John Godfrey, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; John.Godfrey@dowjones.com

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