Obama Says U.S. Gridlock Hurts Trade Posture

President Obama tied U.S. domestic political battles to the nation's global trade competition and ability to boost exports as he embarked on a 10-day trip to Asia, saying gridlock at home puts the nation at a disadvantage with trading partners.

"The most important competition we face in this new century will not be between Democrats and Republicans," Obama said. "It's the competition with countries around the world to lead the global economy."

His remarks on trade came as he commented on a new Labor Department report showing the U.S. added 159,000 private sector jobs in October. They also came three days after he and congressional Democrats suffered a major election setback, as Republicans won the House with a large majority, gained seats in the Senate and took over many state governorships and legislatures.

By The Numbers: U.S. Foreign Trade.

Obama Friday said that in global commerce and its impact on jobs, "we can't spend the next two years mired in gridlock. Other countries, like China, aren't standing still, so we can't stand still either."

He said a goal of his trip to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan is to open doors for more U.S. exports, part of his pledge to double overall U.S. exports in five years. A reported 200 corporate executives are joining him to take advantage of the presidential push to make sales abroad.

Before starting his flight out of Washington, Obama said it is "absolutely clear that one of the keys to creating jobs is to open markets to American goods made by American workers. Our prosperity depends not just on consuming things, but also on being the maker of things."

The president also starts his trip at the end of a week when the Federal Reserve announced details of its plan to inject more money into the economy to strengthen a weak recovery. That has already helped lower long-term U.S. interest rates and the dollar's value against many foreign currencies, in turn making U.S. goods cheaper overseas.

Every $1 billion in exports can create thousands of U.S. jobs, Obama said, and "I'm looking very much forward to helping to pry some markets open, help American businesses, and put people back to work here at home during the course of this trip."