[CTC] ‘Lot of Work to Do’ on TPP

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Two articles below…


Inside US Trade
Brady: Administration Must Work Harder To Engage, Address TPP Objections
February 01, 2016
House Ways & Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) said Monday (Feb. 1) that the Obama administration is still not doing enough to engage with House Republicans over issues they have raised with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and to work with Congress to address them.

“We've urged them and keep urging them to sit down with lawmakers and to resolve those differences because at the end of the day we need a 21st century trade agreement that works for America, that gets us in that market on level playing field playing by our trade rules, but the USTR and the White House have a lot of work to do with our lawmakers and their constituents through this year,” Brady said after giving a speech on economic freedom at the Heritage Foundation.

“My feeling at this point is there are real economic values to [the TPP] agreement, but the White House made some policy decisions that have, frankly, undermined support for that agreement,” he said.

Behind closed doors, Ways & Means Republicans have been pushing USTR to address their objections to three aspects of the TPP deal: a term of market exclusivity for biologic drugs they believe is too short; the carveout of tobacco control measures from investor-state dispute settlement; and the exclusion of the financial services sector from a general ban on government requirements that data be stored on local servers.

USTR Michael Froman in December committed to Ways & Means Republicans <http://insidetrade.com/node/151577> that he would work with them to try to address their objections, and identified additional side letters as one way of doing so.

Brady's call for the administration to ramp up its efforts to address lawmakers' TPP objections echoes remarks <http://insidetrade.com/node/152099>made two weeks ago by Sen. John Thune (R-SD). Thune said the administration must go beyond merely discussing Republican objections to TPP and make a concrete effort to resolve them.

During the event, Brady devoted the vast majority of his speech to three other committee priorities he identified: tax reform; repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act; and welfare reform. He noted that the Ways & Means Committee is “focused” on tax reform and that it was already “hard at work” on that issue. “In the weeks and months ahead we're going to focus first on drafting legislation” on tax reform, Brady said.

Brady addressed free trade only generally during his speech, and did not mentioned TPP. He said the committee would “take action to promote and expand trade because we know the world has changed."

“It's not enough to simply buy American, we have to sell American, every corner of the globe,” Brady said. “We need to build stuff here and sell it to every customer and every market because we know that creates jobs as well.”

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Washington Trade Daily
Volume 25, Number 23 Tuesday, February 2, 2016
 
‘Lot of Work to Do’ on TPP
 
The Administration “has a lot of work to do” to convince lawmakers to support the TransPacific
Partnership agreement, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) warned
yesterday (WTD, 2/1/16).
 
Speaking at the Heritage Foundation, Mr. Brady said he believes there is “real economic value”
to the trade deal – but there also are some problems with the agreement that will need to be fixed in order
to win the support of lawmakers – and their constituents.
 
“The White House made some policy decisions that frankly have undermined support for the
agreement,” Mr. Brady said. “We have urged them and keep urging them to sit down with lawmakers
to solve those differences.”
 
The chairman’s remarks come as the White House prepares to formally sign the TPP tomorrow
in Auckland along with the 11 other countries participating in the agreement. President Obama has
made clear he wants Congress to approve the TPP this year.
 
The President meets today with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc) and Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) to discuss the legislative agenda for his final year in office. But White House
spokesman Josh Earnest yesterday tamped down any expectations that an agreement might emerge from
the meeting on TPP timing. There is excitement about getting the TPP ratified as soon as possible, but
Congressional leaders will “have to work through exactly the mechanics of getting this done,” he said.
Sen. McConnell has said he does not see the Senate voting on the TPP any earlier than the
post-election “lame duck” Congressional session in November.
 
Following his speech, Mr. Brady told reporters the timing for Congressional action on TPP is still
not clear. He planned to discuss TPP – as well as the broader agenda for the year – at a retreat yesterday
evening with Republican committee members.
 
Close Review
 
Ways and Means is going to examine the TPP in detail and in an even more open and
transparent manner than is required under Trade Promotion Authority, Mr. Brady commented.
Lawmakers and the public must know what is in the agreement and how it will affect them, he said.
 
Ways and Means ranking Democrat Sander Levin (D-Mich) – who has been hosting a series of
forums on the TPP – released an analysis yesterday of workers rights provisions in the TPP. The
analysis – prepared by his Democratic staff – concludes that there are “significant and legitimate”
concerns about whether TPP’s labor standards will be fully implemented and enforced. Specific
concerns vary country-by-country, according to the study.
 
In the case of Vietnam, the analysis raises concern that even though Hanoi agreed it could lose
some of its trade benefits in textiles, apparel and footwear if it fails to allow smaller unions to affiliate
with other unions or federations, Washington might not follow through.
 
The American Apparel and Footwear Association – which came out in support of the TPP
yesterday – has flagged that provision as one they believe needs clarification before Congress approves
the trade deal. The group is concerned about the lack of detail as to exactly how the penalty would be
applied and what criteria would be used to determine whether Vietnam is in compliance with the labor
side letter. If Hanoi is found not in compliance and tariff phase-outs are frozen, the agreement does not
explain what would happen once Hanoi does come into compliance.
 
AAFA also hopes the Administration and Congress will use the TPP as an opportunity to update
cumulation provisions in existing US FTAs.
 
In addition to concerns about labor enforcement, some other major concerns raised by members
of Congress about the TPP to date include the patent protection period for biologics – which is shorter
than current US law – the exemption of tobacco control measures from investor-state dispute settlement
and localization provisions relating to financial services.
 



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