Congress renews ‘fast track’ trade authority

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WASHINGTON —The Republican-controlled Congress delivered a significant second-term victory for President Obama, sending to his desk a six-year renewal of trade promotion authority intended to advance one of the largest trade pacts in history later this year.

“This is a critical day for our country. In fact, I’d call it an historic day,” said Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who co-authored the bill, which the Senate approved on Wednesday 60 to 38. “This is perhaps the most important bill we’ll pass in the Senate this year.”

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the vote shows “broad support for U.S. leadership in establishing the rules for trade.”

Trade promotion authority, more commonly referred to as “fast track” or TPA, reestablishes an expedited legislative process for presidents to submit trade deals to Congress that can only be approved or rejected, not amended, within a certain time frame.

Obama needs TPA to finalize negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade pact with Asia-Pacific countries that represents 40% of the world’s population and 60% of global gross domestic product.

TPA expired in 2007, leaving Obama the only modern-era president to serve without it. But he found a rare political alliance with Republicans on trade, and fast track passed on the strength of GOP votes. Just 28 Democrats voted for it in the House last week and 13 in the Senate Wednesday.

It advanced over the opposition of Democratic lawmakers, every major labor union, and liberal activist groups who say it will be a 2016 campaign issue.

Business interests, in contrast, cheered Wednesday’s vote. “A bipartisan majority of the Congress strengthened the president’s ability to negotiate the best trade deals for America,” said John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, which represents chief executive officers of top U.S. companies. “We know increasing exports through trade will create jobs and raise incomes and that’s good for the U.S. economy.”

House Democrats tried and failed to slow down fast track earlier this month by voting down a companion trade bill to provide trade adjustment assistance (TAA) to American workers.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., instead devised a new legislative strategy with the White House to pass TPA and TAA as standalone bills, rather than as a companion package, to build pressure on House Democrats. The Senate approved the trade adjustment assistance bill on Thursday by voice vote.

TAA is an assistance program Democrats support, and it is set to expire Sept. 30. By passing fast track as a standalone, Democrats were faced with their worst-case scenario of enacting TPA and ending TAA.

The maneuver worked. On Wednesday, top Democrats including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, announced they would reverse course and vote for trade adjustment assistance on Thursday.

Democrats, however, say the fight will begin anew when the Asia-Pacific trade pact comes up for a vote, likely this fall. “We all recognize that the next debate will be over (TPP) itself and all members–on both sides of this debate–will shine a bright light on the provisions of TPP,” Pelosi said.

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