Bush defends NAFTA and presses for Colombia vote

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush criticized Democratic presidential candidates on Thursday for suggesting the United States could "opt out" of the North American Free Trade Agreement and he urged Congress to boost U.S. exports by approving a trade deal with Colombia.

"There are a lot of farmers and businesses, large and small, who are benefiting from having a market in our neighborhood. And the idea of just unilaterally withdrawing from a trade treaty because of, you know, trying to score political points is not good policy," Bush said during a White House press conference.

During a presidential campaign debate this week in Ohio, Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama criticized NAFTA and said the United States could opt out of the agreement if Mexico and Canada don't agree to renegotiate labor, environmental and investment provisions of the pact.

The candidates were responding to the strong view of many Ohio voters that the 14-year-old agreement is responsible for many manufacturing job losses in that state, which holds a crucial presidential voting contest on Tuesday.

Bush warned withdrawing from the pact would hurt U.S. farmers and businesses, which export around $380 billion worth of goods to Canada and Mexico each year, and send a signal that the United States does not honor its trade commitments.

In Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised NAFTA as a success for all three countries and said he took Clinton and Obama's remarks with "a grain of salt" because they were made in the heat of a campaign.

"Of course, if any American government ever chose to make the mistake of opening (NAFTA), we would have some things we would want to talk about as well," Harper said when questioned in parliament on the issue.

Meanwhile, Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico's ambassador to the United States, told the Financial Times in a story published on Thursday that reopening the pact "would be like throwing a monkey wrench into the engine of North American competitiveness."