Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/president-bush-to-focus-on-trade-in-asia Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript President Bush began an eight-day trip to Asia Thursday to attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam. Analysts discuss the politics of free trade and the possible results of the trip. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. KWAME HOLMAN: From Washington, to Moscow, to Singapore and beyond, President Bush promoted his message of free trade en route to the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam.Mr. Bush had hoped to bring with him word of a new U.S. trade agreement with Vietnam, an issue that's topped his trade agenda. A bill in Congress would have granted permanent normal trade relations status between the countries for the first time, something that so far has been allowed only on a provisional basis.But on Monday, the bill failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed under special procedures to pass the House of Representatives. HOUSE MEMBER: The bill is not passed. KWAME HOLMAN: Ohio Democrat Dennis Kucinich voted against it.REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), Ohio: If you care about jobs in the United States, then you should be concerned to learn that the U.S. balance of trade with Vietnam has gone from a surplus in 1993 to a deficit of over $5 billion. As Chinese manufacturers move south to Vietnam in search of even cheaper labor, more and more exports will come from Vietnam to the United States, and more and more jobs in the U.S. will disappear. KWAME HOLMAN: Another blow to U.S. free trade policy may be the midterm election results. Several outspoken Democratic critics of free trade were voted into office, including in the Senate, Virginia's Jim Webb and Ohio's Sherrod Brown.But today, on the other side of the world from Washington, President Bush assured an audience at the National University of Singapore that the U.S. won't turn its back on free trade.GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States: Building more hopeful societies starts with opening up to the opportunities of a global trading system. By opening up to trade, countries attract foreign investment they need to provide jobs and opportunities for their people.By opening up to trade, countries help attract the know-how that will enable them to compete in a global marketplace. And by opening up to trade, countries build wealth and empower their citizens.