[CTC] Trade Pact with E.U. may not be best

[Josh Wise]

http://www.foxbusiness.com/government/2013/04/24/top-senator-aims-for-bipartisan-trade-promotion-bill/#ixzz2ROauAXe8
Top Senator Aims for Bipartisan Trade Promotion Bill

April 24, 2012

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus on Wednesday said he  
hoped to soon introduce a bipartisan bill to give the White House  
enhanced authority to negotiate trade agreements and win their  
approval in Congress.

"I would like to see a bipartisan TPA bill introduced by June,''  
Baucus said at a hearing on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, a  
regional free-trade agreement among 12 countries on both sides of the  
Pacific.

Baucus, who announced on Tuesday that he planned to retire at the end  
of his term next year, said approval of the TPA bill would help the  
White House bring the Asia-Pacific trade talks to a close.

Trade promotion authority, also known as ``fast-track'' trade  
legislation, allows the White House to submit trade agreements to  
Congress for straight up-or-down votes without any amendments.

The legislation, which expired in 2007, is considered essential to  
ensuring other countries that any deals they negotiate with the United  
States won't be picked apart by Congress.

President Barack Obama has not formally requested TPA from Congress,  
although acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis told the  
Finance Committee last month the administration was prepared to work  
with lawmakers on a bill.

Senator Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said  
the administration has not followed through on that offer.

"Of course, Congress can, and will, develop TPA legislation without  
the support and input of the White House,'' Hatch said. "But a formal  
request from the administration for TPA would send a strong signal to  
our negotiating partners and the proponents of the Trans-Pacific  
Partnership that the President is serious about making sure the  
rhetoric surrounding the agreement meets the reality of the  
negotiating table,'' Hatch said.


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