Senator Objects to Expedited Vote on Taiwan Trade Bill After House Passage
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., objected to a June 23 Senate motion that could have allowed the chamber to expedite procedures for a potential vote on a U.S.-Taiwan trade bill passed by the House a day earlier. Cotton objected to a unanimous consent request put forward by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., saying the Senate “should not be ramming through such agreements” while lawmakers are still “studying this matter.”
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The U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade First Agreement Implementation Act “only passed out of the House last night. It’s only been on the Senate floor for barely a day,” Cotton said just before the Senate adjourned for a two-week recess. “There is more than enough time for senators and their aides over the next two weeks of recess to review this 70-page, complicated agreement and then address it in the month of July.”
Wyden called Cotton’s objection “very unfortunate,” adding that there has been an “extensive review of this particular proposal” by both parties. “This could have been a very, very special day with the passage of this,” he said. “We’re going to work together with every member of this body to get this very important trade initiative enacted into law.”
The bill, passed by the House unanimously, signs off on the Biden administration's preliminary free trade agreement with Taiwan but would impose requirements on the negotiation of further agreements, such as requiring the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to share any U.S. negotiating texts with Congress prior to sharing the text with Taiwan. It also would give Congress approval for the "early harvest" deal with Taiwan on trade facilitation and customs administration, good regulatory practices, domestic service regulations, anti-corruption and more.