As President Obama and other leaders gather for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit this week in Singapore, America’s failure to advance a trade agenda that is pro-growth and pro-jobs is attracting new attention.

In an excellent editorial this morning, the Wall Street Journal warns that "U.S. companies could find themselves on the wrong side of deals negotiated among other countries," and nowhere is this threat clearer than in the Asia-Pacific region. In a major address last night in Singapore, U.S. Chamber President Tom Donohue explained:

According to USTR, there are 168 FTAs in force in Asia today, up from only 22 in 1980. Eighteen more have been completed but not yet implemented, and 70 more are being negotiated. The United States has exactly two FTAs in Asia —with Singapore and Australia. We are standing on the sidelines while Asian nations clinch new trade deals. The result is a de facto East Asia Free Trade Area—effectively a third bloc in the global economy alongside North America and Europe.

The United States is increasingly on the outside, looking in. And we will pay a price if this continues.

Or as the Journal puts it, while "the U.S. sits on the sidelines, the rest of the world is going to find its own trading way… Especially as other countries expand their own trading opportunities, the costs of Washington dithering are growing every day." Donohue warns:

The consequences are real. Expanding Asian production supply chains shut out U.S. suppliers of intermediate goods. U.S. farmers are shut out because highly-protected agricultural markets are open to U.S. competitors but not to American food products.

The administration may announce this week its plans to join the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP.  Some argue the TPP could lay the foundation for freer trade across the Asia-Pacific region, and joining and shaping the accord is surely a better option than suffering the disadvantages of being excluded.

However, our Asia-Pacific partners will no longer view the United States as a serious negotiating partner if we fail to approve the pending trade agreement with South Korea (and those with Colombia and Panama as well).

A recent Chamber study found that the United States will pay a high price if it fails to enact its trade accord with Seoul while the European Union moves forward with its own agreement. If that happens, European manufacturers will easily undercut their American competitors in the Korean market. Nearly 350,000 American workers could lose their jobs.

Donohue concludes with the question of American engagement in Asia.

Let me state again that continued U.S. leadership and commercial engagement in Asia remain vital to peace, security, and prosperity throughout this region and across the globe. As Asia builds a new trade architecture, the United States simply must have a seat at the table…We must not squander this great potential. We must not sit on our hands while others contrive to draw a line down the Pacific.

Trade brought prosperity to America, and it has lifted tens of millions from poverty in Asia. By expanding trade in the world’s most dynamic region, we can create millions of new jobs, and take millions more out of poverty.