The Costs and Benefits of Free Trade

To the Editor:

Congratulations for ''The Case for Trade'' (editorial, July 27). We need to stop blaming the Chinese for problems that are essentially home-grown and get on with the business of ensuring that American workers and companies can compete in a globalized world market.

One key element of that process will be an expanded program of assistance, in the form of retraining, for workers who lose their jobs for whatever reason.

Congress also needs to be serious about reducing our absurd farm subsidy programs.

There are enormous benefits to be gained from approval of the pending free trade agreements with Peru, Panama, Colombia and South Korea and from conclusion of the Doha round. This is where the administration and Congress should direct their attention.

Thomas Niles

Scarsdale, N.Y., July 28, 2007

The writer is a vice chairman of the United States Council for International Business.

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