The major foreign policy news last week was the Obama drive-by tour of Asia. Among the whistle-stops the president met with the new leadership in Japan, gave a speech about relations with China, and participated in the first ever meeting between a U.S. president and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). What was most noteworthy about the trip was what the president did not say, as the words “free trade ” were noticeably absent during Obama’s Asian jaunt.

Even the president’s long discourse about dealing with China sounded like little more than a chorus of “don’t worry, be happy.” “Happy talk” about how we should all just get along is not a trade strategy. The truth is there is just one “coin of the realm” in Asia: security is on one side, trade on the other.” Sen. Chris Dodd was right when he mentioned, before the President left, that the White House trade agenda was missing in action. We need to “trade or fade,” he declared. We’re fading. The proposed South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is gathering dust. India has penned free trade deals with China and the EU…not the U.S. One third of the U.S. economy comes from trade. Asia does more trading than the EU and U.S. combined. We need to get going…but the White House, busy kowtowing to labor unions and other “protectionist” cavemen is going nowhere. 

In particular, Obama should have done a lot more at the meeting with ASEAN leaders in Singapore to resuscitate America’s moribund trade agenda. Writes Heritage regional expert Walter Lohman:

There is nothing more important to ASEAN than trade. It is where ASEAN has achieved its most concrete results: The ASEAN free trade area and FTAs with China, India, South Korea, Japan and others. At a minimum, President Obama should indicate an interest in moving toward a U.S.-ASEAN FTA. He should pick up on the Bush Administration’s intent to negotiate American entry into the Transpacific Partnership, which already includes Singapore, Brunei, Chile, and New Zealand. And he should pursue APEC’s interest in a free trade area of the Asia Pacific encompassing its 21-country membership.

During his trip, the president did tiptoe into trade announcing the U.S. would join a regional group called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. At least that is something.

Trade is not the only subject where the administration’s Asian trip came up short. A new liberal government, the DPJ, has taken over Japan, kicking the ruling part for only the second time in the last 50 years. The DPJ may not turn out to be as reliable an alliance partner as previous Japanese governments. “The DPJ has articulated policies contrary to those of the U.S. on a number of security issues that will serve as friction points in the relationship,” points out Heritage expert Bruce Klingner. “The most notable are the DPJ’s opposition to Japanese maritime refueling operations in support of coalition counterterrorism operations, Japanese support in Afghanistan, and U.S. force realignment on Okinawa.”

During his brief stop in Japan, however, Obama did little to press the new government on bilateral security issues. In short, the president left too much unsaid on his Asian trip. He gets an “A” effort for going, but an “F” for any real foreign policy accomplishments.

Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.

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About the author

James Jay Carafano PhD
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is a leading expert in defense affaires, intelligence, military operations and strategy, and homeland security at the Heritage Foundation.