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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#777777'>CQ NEWS<br>March 19, 2013 – 1:27 p.m.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:108%'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:23.5pt;line-height:108%;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:black'>Obama Administration Committed to Fast-Track Trade Authority<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#888888'>By Ben Weyl, CQ Roll Call<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN style='font-size:15.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#555666'>The Obama administration renewed its commitment Tuesday to seek fast-track trade authority from Congress and key senators said they want to move forward quickly on advancing a measure considered critical to approving new trade agreements.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN style='font-size:15.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#555666'>Acting United States Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis told the Senate Finance Committee the administration will pursue the trade authority with Congress as it presses negotiations toward the Trans-Pacific Partnership and a new trade pact with Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN style='font-size:15.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#555666'>“In support of our market-opening efforts, we look forward to beginning work with you on Trade Promotion Authority,” Marantis said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN style='font-size:15.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#555666'>Marantis did not give a time frame for an administration effort on what’s commonly called fast-track authority, a tool that clears a smoother path toward congressional approval of trade agreements. Businesses and many lawmakers have criticized the White House for giving trade a low priority in President <span class=person-ref><a href="http://www.cq.com/person/7612" id=wicket-generated-id-86>Barack Obama</a></span>’s first term, and senators urged Marantis to move quickly on the new authority.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN style='font-size:15.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#555666'>“Given this ambitious agenda, the need for Trade Promotion Authority is clear,” said Finance Chairman <span class=person-ref><a href="http://www.cq.com/person/287" id=wicket-generated-id-87>Max Baucus</a></span>, D-Mont. “TPA is a key negotiating tool and will help bring these trade agreements to a successful conclusion. It has been more than a decade since we renewed TPA and the world has changed in that time.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN style='font-size:15.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#555666'>Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the ranking member of the panel, said the administration needs to follow up on promises made by then-U.S. Trade Representative <span class=person-ref>Ron Kirk</span> to engage with Congress.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN style='font-size:15.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#555666'>“Now, the president’s 2013 Trade Policy Agenda says the president will work with Congress on Trade Promotion Authority,” Hatch said. “I take this promise as a sign of progress, but we have already wasted four years. TPA could have been done a long time ago. We can’t afford to waste any more time.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN style='font-size:15.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#555666'>Under fast-track rules, a trade deal must receive an up-or-down vote in both chambers, without amendment, within 90 days of being submitted by the White House. Congress has never rejected a trade agreement submitted under those procedures.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span lang=EN style='font-size:15.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";color:#555666'>Congressional Republicans have long criticized Obama for not requesting a renewal of the authority, which expired in 2007, and business groups point to it as evidence of the administration’s limited ambitions for trade.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Mark W. Harrison<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Director, Peace with Justice Program<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>United Methodist General Board of Church and Society<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>