General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)"Fast Track" which is needed to pass the TPP, is in trouble on the Hill [View all]
One thing President Barack Obama needs from Congress to make his blockbuster Pacific Rim trade deal a reality is trade promotion authority. But as lawmakers return next week from a month-long break, the easiest road to getting the needed legislation may now be impassable.
Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a group that lobbies for major U.S. exporters, told reporters at a lunch meeting on Friday he was pessimistic that ongoing talks between top Republicans and Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee would produce a joint bill.
<snip>
Scott Miller, a trade policy specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said a crowded legislative calendar makes it a challenge to pass any trade promotion authority bill in the next few months.
There are a lot of other priorities at the moment, Miller said, referring to upcoming debates over military action in Syria, raising the U.S. debt ceiling and funding government programs for fiscal 2014.
Still, having the legislation would make it much easier for the White House to achieve its goal of finishing talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership by the end of the year, he said.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/barack-obama-trade-authority-96400.html#ixzz2f4AWTch1