Ways & Means Committee Approves Fast Track on Partisan Vote

Ways & Means Committee approved the Fast Track trade authority bill on a near party line vote.  25-13.  All Republicans on the committee plus two Democrats (Kind and Blumenauer) voted for the bill. Ranking Member Sander Levin offered a substitute trade authority bill that would have replaced aspirational, unenforceable trade negotiation objectives with mandatory negotiating…

Can American Manufacturing Be Saved: “What would be the Impact of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement?”

  Last Thursday, Senators Hatch, Wyden, and Ryan introduced “The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015,” which is the Trade Promotion Authority bill that would grant President Obama “fast track” authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. [by Michele Nash-Hoff | April 20, 2015 | Saving U.S. Manufacturing blog] The TPP agreement…

Can Congress Rescind Fast Track after Passing TPA? No.

  (Wonk Alert) This week I’ve heard some congressional staff erroneously claim that Congress can rescind fast track procedures if the Obama administration fails to achieve the 150 negotiating objectives.  This is not true. The Hatch/Wyden/Ryan trade authority bill introduced last week was promoted as an improvement over prior trade authority bills.  It “puts Congress…

Inside U.S. Trade: “Lew Says Enforceable Currency Rules Could Sink TPP, Former Secretaries Weigh In”

  On the eve of a Finance Committee markup, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Tuesday (April 21) told the sponsors of the pending Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill that amendments seeking enforceable rules against currency manipulation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) could make it hard to conclude an agreement given the opposition that other participants…