US President George W Bush, proclaiming that "America is back at the bargaining table in full force", yesterday signed into law a Bill giving him new congressional authority to negotiate trade deals.

In a ceremony that was his last official act before leaving to holiday on his ranch in Texas, Mr Bush promised to pursue aggressively a series of new trade deals.

He said the US was committed to concluding bilateral free-trade pacts with Chile, Singapore and Morocco, and would consider similar deals with Australia, in central America and with South Africa.

The Bill restores the President's authority to negotiate new trade deals for the first time since 1994, with an assurance that Congress cannot amend the agreements before voting on them.

The Bush Administration had made the Bill a critical test of the credibility of its trade policy, warning that other countries would not negotiate with the US unless Congress granted fast-track authority.

The Administration hopes to use expanded trade as a pillar of its economic policy. Apart from the 10-year tax cut passed early in Mr Bush's term, the trade Bill is the only big piece of economic legislation the Administration has pushed through a divided Congress.

Mr Bush said that, without fast-track authority for the past eight years, "America has lost trading opportunities and the jobs and earnings that go with them". He said pursuing new trade deals would create jobs, increase exports and improve US living standards. But opponents of further trade liberalisation warned the Administration would face tough fights on any agreements it brought back to Congress. - (Financial Times Service)