NFTC Releases Draft Trade Promotion Authority Bill, Says TPA Will Be Crucial, Contentious
Trade Promotion Authority is essential for the passage of upcoming agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and though it is likely Congress will take up the issue this year, securing the fast track negotiating authority will require a “huge messy debate,” National Foreign Trade Council President Bill Reinsch said April 12. The group released a draft Trade Promotion Authority Act April 12, the bill “an effort to stimulate debate” and crafted in consultation with leaders in the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, Reinsch said.
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“What happens to [TPA] next up there depends on the speed with which they take up the issue.” Though lawmakers probably want the authority established before negotiations like the TPP and International Services Agreement finish, Reinsch said, the committees could also be quite busy if they tackle another stated goal: tax reform.
Because TPA legislation also includes a list of negotiating objectives -- in the NFTC draft bill, they are broken into fundamental, multilateral and regional/bilateral -- it will be a hotly contested issue on the Hill. “Every time Congress does this it’s a big messy debate,” Reinsch said. “Especially when they haven’t done this in forever. And they haven’t done this for 12 years.” He predicted the sections on intellectual property, digital trade and agriculture to be especially contentious.
TPA expired in 2007 (see 13031902 for more on TPA). One of the proposed changes in NFTC’s bill is a renewal authority for five years with an option to extend at regular five year intervals, if the President requests an extension and neither the House and Senate adopt a disapproval resolution for such an extension. The draft bill also establishes an Office of Trade Analysis within the U.S. Trade Representative and mandates TPA will only apply to a TPP agreement if the President appropriately notifies Congress of the agreement within one year of the bill’s enactment.