What’s Really in the New Trade Promotion Authority Bill?
ByAfter months of internal wrangling, a trade promotion authority bill has finally beenintroduced in the Senate. If passed, TPA could prompt conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and facilitate the deal’s eventual ratification by Congress. The basic function of TPA is to affirm that future trade agreements will receive a timely up-or-down vote in Congress while setting negotiating objectives and procedures for congressional oversight.
Politically, the debate over TPA (and the TPP) has pitted the Obama administration and Republicans against congressional Democrats. The reason the current bill took so long to devise is that proponents needed the support of Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D–OR) in order to get at least a handful of other Democrats on board…
What’s Really in the New Trade Promotion Authority Bill?
