No TPA Fast-Track Measures for TPP Legislation, Say Trade Critics
No Trade Promotion Authority legislation should permit Congress to pass Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations with the legislation’s fast-track mechanisms, namely a ban on amendments and forced up-or-down votes, said a number of consumer, labor and environmental groups in a March 23 letter to members of Congress (here). Any TPA bill must require that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative regularly release “both U.S. draft textual proposals and the consolidated bracketed negotiating texts” of trade talks during the negotiating process,” said the letter, signed by Public Citizen, Food and Water Watch and others.
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The U.S. has negotiated the TPP for years, but the Obama administration hasn’t released any negotiating texts. Therefore, the TPP won’t make the cut for use of the TPA fast-track mechanisms if a bill is passed and signed by the president, said the letter, which said a TPA bill is “expected soon.” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has repeatedly expressed support for the legislation, and he recently said he won’t relent to pressure to weaken those fast-track mechanisms (see 1503190021). The Senate goes on recess from March 30-April 10, while the House also takes a week off during that period.
More transparency is necessary because "negotiations are of unprecedented scope with respect to both the subject matter and the countries potentially involved,” said the groups. “The current TPP partners sum up to 40 percent of world GDP and the proposed “docking” mechanism could allow other countries to join. The subject matter now being negotiated extends significantly beyond tariffs and other traditional trade matters.” The groups said they’ve called on USTR to release the texts for more than three years. At a minimum, USTR needs to be more transparent in future negotiations, including by immediately releasing negotiating texts from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, said the letter.
The groups, who have rallied lawmakers against the legislative trade agenda this Congress (see 1501090022), also said a TPA bill should allow more congressional staff access to the negotiating texts. If TPA “were to formalize access to draft trade agreement text only for congressional staff with security clearances, it would newly create a statutory requirement that trade texts be subject to treatment under the national security classification system,” said the letter. Some lawmakers have recently complained about restrictions on staff clearance for the text (see 1503010004).