Mandelson Disappointed By Dems' Stand On Trade

European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said Tuesday that the opposition of Democrats to trade agreements has disappointed him and he now fears Republicans are following their lead.

It is rare for foreign officials to comment on domestic politics, but Mandelson told a National Press Club luncheon that, "It's disappointing to me to see so many friends that I have in the Democratic Party turning their backs on free trade and now dragging the Republicans behind them."

Mandelson, a former Labor Party politician in Great Britain and an architect of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's campaigns, added, "Pandering to the gallery isn't good enough." But he added that, as a former politician, "I understand what the ballot box can do to your deeply held views."

Mandelson repeated statements he has made for U.S.-E.U. cooperation in the Doha round of trade talks and said worldwide economic fears raised by Hurricane Katrina are another reason for the United States to give a signal of economic leadership.

Mandelson also called on middle-income countries to reduce their tariffs on industrial products and services, but did not mention those countries reducing agricultural tariffs, a key U.S. demand in the Doha round.