Obama says Asia trip will aid U.S. economy

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President Obama’s eight-day trip to Asia produced no tangible wins for the United States, though he is citing talks with Asian allies that he says could help create thousands of job and open new markets for American goods in the future.

Citing progress on a trip that took him from Tokyo to Seoul, Obama noted that “Asia is a region where we now buy more goods and do more trade with than any other place in the world — commerce that supports millions of jobs back home.”

“I spoke with leaders in every nation I visited about what we can do to sustain this economic recovery and bring back jobs and prosperity for our people — a task I will continue to focus on relentlessly in the weeks and months ahead,” Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address taped while he was in Seoul, the South Korean capital, and released today.

The president pitched his trip as a way to reintroduce the U.S. to those trading partners, including China.
The Chinese government is the United States’ biggest foreign creditor, with $800 billion of federal U.S. debt, which gives it extraordinary power in the relationship. And Beijing believes the global recession, sparked by U.S. financial industry excesses, vindicates its authoritarian leadership.

Obama told Americans that there can be no solutions to climate change or energy without the cooperation of Asian and Pacific nations. Repeating a theme he used abroad, Obama told the U.S. audience that the discussions directly affect U.S. national security.
“We made progress with China and Russia in sending a unified message to Iran and North Korea that they must live up to their international obligations and either forsake nuclear weapons or face the consequences,” he said.

-- Associated Press

Obama’s address can be found on the White House website.