WASHINGTON, Sept 20: President George W. Bush urged Congress on Thursday not to give into protectionism and instead pass four pending free trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

“We’ll work hard to get all four trade agreements,” Bush told reporters at the White House. “If they don’t get through, it’s a sign that the protectionists are beginning to be on the ascendancy here in Congress and that would be a mistake.”

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to take the first step toward expected congressional approval of the Peru free trade agreement later on Thursday, followed by the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee next week.

But the trade pacts with Colombia and South Korea are much more controversial. In addition, the decision of Panama’s National Assembly to elect as its leader a lawmaker wanted in the 1992 killing of a US soldier has added an element of uncertainty to approval of that pact.

Bush said the United States also was committed to reaching a successful conclusion to the Doha round of world trade talks, which many experts believe are at a critical make-or-break point after four years of talks.

Bush is expected to highlight US resolve to reach an agreement in a speech at the United Nations next week.

The White House hopes the expected approval of the Peru free trade agreement in Congress will be followed in quick succession by votes on Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

However, House Democratic leaders have said Colombia needs to make much more progress in reducing violence against union members and addressing a paramilitary scandal before Congress would be prepared to vote on the pact.

They’ve also said the South Korea agreement needs to be renegotiated to provide better access for US automobiles in the South Korean market. They fear the current agreement will open the United States to more South Korean cars without giving Detroit many new export opportunities.—Reuters