Romney Lies About Trade Markets

The Mittster outright lied tonight, saying Obama didn't open up any new trade markets. Apparently, he lied in the New Hampshire debate too.

During the Jan. 7, 2012, Republican presidential debate in Manchester, N.H., former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took a shot at President Barack Obama’s trade policies.

"We have to open up markets for our goods," Romney said. "We haven't done that under this president. European nations and China over the last three years have opened up 44 different trade relationships with various nations in the world. This president has opened up none."

We won’t check the claim about European and Chinese trade deals here, but we will look at whether Romney is correct about Obama’s record on trade agreements.

After lengthy negotiations, Obama signed trade agreements with three separate nations on Oct. 21, 2011 -- South Korea, Colombia, and Panama. These were not trivial deals. The one with South Korea, in particular, was "the largest trade deal since 1994," when the U.S. approved the North American Free Trade Agreement, Bloomberg News reported at the time, citing administration data. The South Korea deal was poised to increase U.S. export access "for everything from cars to farm goods," Bloomberg wrote. All three deals were initially forged under President George W. Bush, but Bush was unable to get the deals past a Democratic-controlled Congress. Politifact