WASHINGTON, March 9: US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick on Tuesday warned China and India - which have benefited from US jobs moving overseas - they could face increased barriers to the US market unless they open their own markets to more American exports.
"If countries around the world that are emerging economic powers want to get the benefits of the (open market) system, they're going to have to contribute," Zoellick told members of the Senate Finance Committee at a hearing on the Bush administration's trade agenda.
Zoellick said the United States should not retreat into "economic isolationism" because of the movement of some manufacturing and service jobs to China and India.
"The point that I've emphasized to the Indians, is that if we're going to remain open for them, it's got to be a two-way street," Zoellick said. "China must open its market to US trade if our openness is going to be maintained."
However, Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said the Bush administration's actions have not matched its rhetoric. Rather than make sure China and India are open to U.S. exports, the administration has spent too much time negotiating trade pacts with a long list of small countries, including Bahrain and Morocco, that offer little payoff, he said. -Reuters
