“Today’s vote was not on a final trade agreement”, Coats said in a statement released on Wednesday, after the vote. Two other legacy-building pieces hang in the balance, with the Supreme Court expected to issue a ruling on his health care law and with a June 30 deadline to conclude an agreement aimed at containing Iran’s nuclear program.
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The Senate passed the legislation on Wednesday. The President insisted he wanted both components before he moved forward with talks on a trade deal.
Bucking political tradition, the Democratic president relied on his Republican rivals to help realise the top economic priority of his second term: creating a 12-nation trans-Pacific free-trade area aimed at opening new markets for U.S. exports in countries like Japan, Chile, Australia and Vietnam.
But earlier this month, the legislation granting Trade Promotion Authority seemed likely to die because of fierce opposition from many Democrats and some Republicans.
The bill’s passage was the product of rare collaboration between the White House and Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Chris Coons (D) of Delaware says the president’s outreach persuaded him to vote “yes”. “TPP will be the largest free trade agreement to date, representing an important opportunity for the clothing and shoe industry and our members”. The bill was initially rejected by the Democrats in the House chamber because they planned to thus stymie fast-track legislation.
Opponents are anxious the TPP deal will lead to an increase in outsourcing of American jobs.
But the Obama administration and its trading partners saw approval of fast-track negotiating power as a vital prerequisite.
Democrats and labor unions are already promising a new fight if the deal makes it to a vote in Congress.
When they reach an agreement, the president can bring the deal to Congress and put it on a so-called fast track – that is, Congress can only vote yes or no, with no filibusters or amendments.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka echoed the sentiment of many Democrats when he stated in a letter to lawmakers Wednesday that Obama appeared extra intent on getting negotiating authority than in securing harder trade enforcement and foreign money provisions and a greater help package deal for dislocated staff.
Less than two weeks ago, a Democratic uprising in the House of Representatives, aided by some Republican protectionists, used a procedural maneuver to block fast-track authorization, threatening to scuttle the trade negotiations.
“This was a good day for America”, Obama said, speaking from the White House Rose Garden shortly after the court rulings.
Supporters argue that TAA has helped millions of workers that have been displaced by trade deals or globalization, and in principle it is widely backed by Democrats.
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“It is so bad, and we will have so much time to simply explain that to the… people that you might find that we could fuel a very substantial grass-roots revolt”, said Mr Peter A DeFazio, a Democrat critic of the TPP.
