Pacific and European trade deals may be back on track as US Senate votes again

The US Senate reached a compromise on Wednesday to advance Barack Obama’s sweeping trade agenda, one day after a failed vote dealt an early blow to the White House’s pursuit of new free trade agreements with Asia and Europe.

Under the agreement, the Senate will hold a series of votes on Thursday on three separate trade measures: two standalone votes on bills that reflect Democrats’ priorities, including one that would crack down on Chinese currency manipulation, and then another vote on a bill that would give Obama so-called “fast-track” negotiating authority.

 The fast-track bill, known as Trade Promotion Authority, allows the president to sign a trade agreement without congressional approval. Congress would then have 90 days to approve or reject a trade pact, but would be unable to amend it.

 The Obama administration is in the midst of two historic agreements – the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) – and views the negotiations as a potential pillar of the president’s legacy.

 The White House has long been calling on Congress to pass a fast-track bill and dubbed the Senate’s failure to clear the first procedural hurdle in doing so on Tuesday as a “procedural snafu”.

 The majority of Senate Democrats oppose the TPP bill, citing concerns over the loss of US manufacturing jobs and poor working conditions in developing countries, and banded together to filibuster the fast-track legislation.

Democrats pointed out that the Senate finance committee had cleared four separate trade measures, including one that would address currency manipulation, and insisted that Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who leads the Senate, bring the entire package up for a vote.

he compromise reached on Wednesday enables Democrats to have a vote on a customs enforcement bill, which contains the currency language, as well as the African Growth and Opportunity Act, legislation that provides duty-free access to the US for product lines from sub-Saharan Africa.

 But each would be subject to a 60-vote threshold, and there is no guarantee that they will be added to the final TPP legislation.

Should they pass as standalone measures, the House of Representatives can do away with them when it considers the TPP bill. The White House has opposed the currency provision, making it even more unlikely that the text will make it into the final piece of legislation.

 Nevada senator Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, said the agreement was nonetheless “fair”.

 The economic impact of broad trade agreements has been a particularly contentious issue since the signing of North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) two decades ago, a landmark trade deal under former president Bill Clinton that has since been decried by labor unions.

 Obama convened a group of pro-trade Democrats at the White House on Tuesday evening in an effort to revive the fast-track bill. In a rare show of cooperation with the White House, Republican leaders said they supported Obama’s trade agenda and appreciated his efforts to curry favor for the TPP bill among members of his party.

theguardian.com