Obama to unveil trade policy agenda ahead of G20 summit

US President Barack Obama is to unveil his administration's trade policy agenda ahead of a meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 developed and emerging nations, his top trade envoy said."

Obama will elaborate on his trade policy before the G20 summit to be held September 24-25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk told
reporters.

"I will not prejudge what the president might do," Kirk said when asked to give a glimpse of Obama's expected trade statement.

"I think it would be more an illumination of how this president, this administration sees trade as in the integral part our overall economic strategy," he said.

Kirk said that Obama had already laid a broad framework for US trade policy but added, "I do think the president will have more to say about the role trade will play in our
overall economic recovery sometime between now and the G20 summit."

Since taking office in January, Obama has not made any major trade policy decisions, including pushing ahead with legislative steps to implement free trade agreements with key partners that had already been signed.

His administration is still trying to finalize a trade pact with Panama and resolve outstanding issues over similar long-delayed pacts with Colombia and South Korea.