[CTC] Fast Track Bill Expected As Early As Wednesday, But Key Issues Still Outstanding

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Daily News
TPA Bill Expected As Early As Wednesday, But Key Issues Still Outstanding

Posted: April 14, 2015
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) are expected to introduce their bill to renew Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) as early as tomorrow (April 15), but as of late Monday were still working out the details of the trade legislation that will move along with it, according to informed sources.
 
As of that time, staff for Hatch, Wyden and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) did not appear to have finalized the language of a customs reauthorization bill that would incorporate legislation aimed at cracking down on evasion of trade remedy orders, or settled their differences on Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), sources said.
 
On duty evasion, Wyden and some Finance Republicans have favored a version of that legislation known as the ENFORCE bill, which sets deadlines for Customs and Border Protection to act on circumvention complaints. But House Ways & Means Republicans favor the so-called PROTECT bill, which does not set such deadlines. The PROTECT Act was sponsored in the last Congress by Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA).
 
On TAA, a pro-TPA lobbyist said that committee staff as of Monday did not appear to have worked out a deal on how to handle its reauthorization, which he stressed will require a difficult balancing act for several reasons.
 
One is that Democrats are likely to want TAA to be included within the TPA bill, while Republicans do not, insisting that TAA renewal be considered as a standalone bill. If TAA is not part of the TPA bill as introduced but is added as an amendment during a Finance committee markup, it is uncertain whether that would garner the necessary votes to pass.
 
This is because some Finance Republicans may still oppose TAA reauthorization and some Finance Democrats may reject it as well if it were to fall short of the full benefits advocated by a bill sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) that has 39 Democratic cosponsors. That bill would reauthorize the current base TAA program for workers that lose their jobs due to trade from free trade agreements and from preferential trade programs, but also cover services workers and workers that lose their jobs due to trade from non-FTA countries.
 
If the TAA amendment does pass in Finance, this could cause problems in the House, as Ways & Means Republicans seem to want to defeat all amendments to a TPA bill in committee. The lobbyist emphasized that this type of procedural issue takes time to resolve.
 
The House and Senate versions of a bill to renew TPA, also known as fast track, are expected to be introduced simultaneously, not at different times, as some congressional sources had previously said in an April 10 article on World Trade Online.
 
Sources said they still expect Finance and Ways & Means committee leadership to brief members or staff on the details of the TPA bill prior to introduction. The lobbyist said he expected that Wyden and Hatch would hold a joint briefing for all Finance members prior to introduction, but that this meeting has not been scheduled yet.
 
Similarly, aides for Ways & Means members expect to be briefed on the TPA bill prior to introduction, according to a congressional source.
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