News Analysis: Obama faces tough sell in own party on trade deals

For the first time in his six years in the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama is facing a tougher sell to his fellow Democrats rather than pro-trade Republicans as the administration steps up efforts to push for an ambitious trade agenda this year.

The administration aims to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks with 11 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region and make substantial progress in the Trans- Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations with the European Union in 2015, cementing a trade legacy before public attention shifts to the 2016 presidential election.

While officials of the Obama administration have touted new trade deals with Asia and Europe as a means to create jobs and write the rules of international trade, many liberal Democrats and activists from labor unions remain skeptical, expressing concerns that past trade deals have hurt U.S. workers and increased income inequality.

"The administration's focus now is on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but they have not done a very good job persuading the Congress. We're seeing a lot of opposition in the Congress to the TPP and to the trade promotion authority (TPA)," C. Fred Bergsten, senior fellow and director emeritus at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), told Xinhua.

The TPA, also known as Fast Track, empowers the president to negotiate trade deals and then present them to Congress for up-or- down votes, with no amendments allowed. Without such authority, many trade analysts say, Obama's hopes to enact trade deals before he leaves office would be doomed.

"I think the Obama administration has made very clear that they would like to see the passage of trade promotion authority before the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership," said Jeffrey Schott, senior fellow at the PIIE who leads the institute's work on TPP, adding that Congress has constitutional authority in this area.

"The administration is working very closely with the leadership in the Congress to try to expedite the drafting and consideration of TPA legislation in the coming month or two," Schott told Xinhua.

Regarding prospects for the passage of TPA, Bergsten said, "It' s still somewhat up in the air more in the House than the Senate... That's where the administration needs to do a lot more work in explaining the importance of trade to U.S. economy, importance of trade to U.S. foreign policy, and why TPP, hopefully a broader agreement in Asia beyond that, are very much in U.S. interests."

U.S. Trade Representative Mike Froman, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, Labor Secretary Tom Perez and other cabinet officials have held several classified meetings with House Democrats on TPP negotiations in recent weeks, in a bid to boost support from the Democratic Party.

While House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has said she wants to "find a path to yes in terms of Fast Track and TPP," liberal Democrats have vowed to block Obama's trade agenda, raising concerns that the provision of investor-state dispute settlement ( ISDS) in TPP could be used to weaken U.S. laws.

"Through ISDS, foreign companies would be allowed to sue governments at the local, state and federal level if they believe that domestic laws and regulations hinder their future profits," Rosa Delauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, said Thursday in a statement. "That is why we should not grant Fast Track promotion authority for the TPP."

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch warned Tuesday that he was very worried that if lawmakers didn't reach a deal on TPA next month, it might not get done this year.

It's unclear how much support Obama will need within his own party to move forward the trade agenda, but Schott expects substantial progress on TPA legislation in May, which could pave the way for the final negotiations of TPP over the summer.

While the passage of TPA would be helpful in wrapping up the TPP trade talks, Adam Posen, president of the PIIE, noted that a bilateral deal on agricultural market access between U.S. and Japan is the key to the conclusion of the broad TPP negotiations.

"The TPP, in my view at least, I think the Obama administration would largely agree, depends on (Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo) Abe delivering on agriculture," Posen told Xinhua.

The United States has demanded Japan to open its market for sensitive agricultural products like rice, beef, pork and dairy, but Japan remains reluctant to make significant concessions.

Obama will host Abe for an official visit to the White House next month, discussing a range of economic, security and global issues, including progress on the TPP negotiations. It's unclear whether there will be a breakthrough in TPP talks during Abe's visit. Endite