May 1, 2007 10:11 AM

Baucus & Rubin Dodge Direct, Simple Questions On Trade

The fifth in a series of live blogs from the international economic summit in Butte, Montana

At a press conference with Sen. Max Baucus (D) and Citigroup executive Bob Rubin that concluded just moments ago, I had the chance to ask two questions. I asked Sen. Baucus for an offiical reaction to the Montana State Senate overwhelmingly passing a resolution asking him to not support President Bush's request to reauthorize "fast track" trade authority - the authority that allows the president to strip labor, human rights and environmental standards out of trade deals. Baucus categorically refused to answer the question, instead delivering a filibuster expounding on the wonders of the current economic conference here in Butte. I later asked Rubin whether he views labor, environmental and human rights provisions in trade deals as "protectionist" or "isolationist" since those two epithets are being thrown around by the major keynoters at this event. Rubin agreed that these were important "goals" but reiterated that he does not think the United States should not sign trade agreements with countries that refuse to agree to basic standards. I followed up by asking him if that was his view on protections for humans, did he also have the same view on protections for profits. Specifically, should the United States also sign sign trade agreements with countries that, say, refuse to agree to intellectual property and copyright standards? At this, Rubin began babbling about how each trade deal should be looked at individually on the merits - but he refused to answer the question directly.

I'll have the audio from these interchanges by the end of the day. I'm going out into the main auditorium now to listen to Rubin's official speech.