TPP_ TPP fight: Fast-track legislation approved in US House, heads to Senate

The Sydney Morning Herald

TPP fight: Fast-track legislation approved in US House, heads to Senate

Date June 19, 2015 - 10:27AM
Krista Hughes and Richard Cowan

Negotiators under pressure to finish pact to allow TPP to clear Congress before the 2016 US presidential election campaigns.

Washington: The US House of Representatives on Thursday reversed course, approving "fast-track" legislation central to President Barack Obama's trade deal with Pacific Rim nations and sending it back to the Senate.

The close vote in the House, which last week rejected a related bill, kept alive Mr Obama's goal of bolstering US ties with Asia through a 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the economic element of a foreign policy shift aimed in part at countering the rising influence of China.

The House voted 218-208 to give Mr Obama the fast-track authority to speed trade deals, including the TPP, to conclusion with reduced interference from Congress. The TPP would encompass 40 per cent of the global economy and is close to completion.

But the outlook in the Senate for fast-track, seen by Japan as crucial to sealing the deal on TPP, was uncertain.

Senate aides said support among Democrats hinged on another trade issue, the Export-Import Bank, which may have to close at month's end.

The House's vote was its second in less than a week on fast-track, which would restrict lawmakers to a yes-or-no vote on trade deals. Democrats last week blocked it by voting down a companion measure to extend aid for workers hurt by trade.

That was a slap in the face to Mr Obama, who urged his fellow Democrats to support fast-track and the worker assistance program, despite scepticism among Democrats close to labour unions about the impact of trade deals on US jobs.

In an unusual alliance, the president and Republican House Speaker John Boehner turned last Friday's loss into a win by excising the worker aid program that was voted down by the House. That neutralised the ability of some Democrats to use it to stymie fast-track, and capitalised on support from a bloc of 28 pro-trade Democrats.

Those House Democrats resisted intense pressure from unions, after House and Senate Republicans – who generally oppose the worker support program – promised to attach the worker assistance bill to a separate trade bill.

The trade package still faces three more congressional votes, including two in the Senate, which took nearly two weeks last month to approve fast-track and worker aid.

"The House took the hot potato and threw it back to the Senate," said Lori Wallach, of consumer group Public Citizen, which has been campaigning against fast-track.

The House vote is a positive sign for the TPP, which would harmonise standards on issues such as intellectual property and labour protections, and lower trade barriers among the dozen emerging and developed countries.

The deal, backed by the business community, would open new markets for major US exporters such as Boeing, General Electric, Ford, IBM, Caterpillar, Merck and Cisco, policy analysts said.

Negotiators are under pressure to finish the pact, which is already more than five years in the making, to allow the TPP to clear Congress before the 2016 US presidential election campaigns dominate the agenda.

Some TPP partner countries want fast-track in place before making final offers on the trade deal, which economists estimate would boost the global economy by almost $US300 billion a year.

Reuters
Follow FairfaxForeign on Twitter

***


Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc . 
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị . 



conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
19062015
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là ĐỒNG LÕA với TỘI ÁC