Where is the United States in International Trade relations?

To trade or not to trade? The attached article, found in Fortune Magazine, relates to international trade, or in respect to the United States, the lack thereof. Author, Nina Eaton, focuses on the seemingly collective push for international trade from all the major countries, except the United States. China, Japan, Asia and South Korea are all working to improve free trade and remove trade barriers. “Leaders of developing countries [are] moving aggressively to remove trade barriers, while the U.S. sits on the sidelines”.
The lack of United States involvement on world trade agreements has resulted in large firms, once invested in the United States, to move around trade tariffs and create jobs elsewhere. Another factor the United States needs to think about is long term relationships with other countries. By refusing or not committing to trade agreements this will make the United States more likely to get a reputation for being difficult. Recently, Canada, a regular trading country with the United States had a bad experience that resulted in Canadian government spreading the word about United States lack of follow through. There is as much a need to maintain imports as there are exports.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/15/news/economy/free_trade_matters_caterpillar.fortune/index.htm