April 23 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama plans to push for completion of the delayed Doha Round of the World Trade Organization and try for congressional approval of other stalled trade pacts, the top U.S. trade ambassador said.

“At this moment of economic uncertainty, we should make our best effort to create the strong global trading system of tomorrow,” Ron Kirk said in his first formal speech as U.S. Trade Representative. “Now is not the time to turn inward.”

Obama, who vowed during his campaign last year to rework the trade policies of President George W. Bush, is now embracing some of the deals endorsed by his predecessor. Kirk said he will try to move forward agreements with Colombia and Panama, and may pursue others. A majority of Democrats in Congress have voted against other recent trade pacts.

“People across the country will scratch their heads and wonder why” Obama is asking Congress to approve the Panama and Colombia deals that Bush negotiated, Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, told reporters yesterday. “Why should we have a fight over continuing the Bush trade policy?”

The trade office is trying to rework labor provisions in the Panama agreement before submitting that deal for congressional approval, Kirk said in his speech at Georgetown University in Washington today.

“At a time when American workers need a life raft, passage of these two trade agreements would be like throwing them anchors,” Representative Phil Hare, an Illinois Democrat, said in a statement before the speech.

Working Together

Kirk also said Obama told him to lead a review of the Colombia accord, and vowed to work with critics including Brown to respond to their objections.

“We’ll be talking to those who not only support trade, but those who question it as well,” Kirk said. “We will be responsive where we can, and we will always be respectful when we disagree.”

Concerning the WTO’s Doha Round, Kirk reiterated the position of the Bush administration, saying the U.S. needs new tariff cuts from key developing countries before agreeing to reductions in agricultural subsidies and other items.

“Our goal remains the same -- to see the mission of the Doha round fulfilled through the creation of new economic opportunities,” Kirk said. The U.S. needs a “clearer picture of what we get as well as what we’re expected to give.”

Kirk said his office is conducting a thorough review of the WTO talks and will come up with new procedures and ideas in the effort to reach a breakthrough.

The approach by Kirk was backed today by the Business Roundtable, a Washington-based group of chief executive officers for companies including Caterpillar Inc. The group issued a report calling for the approval of the pending trade pacts.

“To put our economy back on track and enhance the standards of living of all Americans, we must maintain U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace,” Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens said in a statement today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Drajem in Washington at mdrajem@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 23, 2009 12:27 EDT