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U.S. lawmakers introduce legislation to move forward trade agenda

Xinhua, April 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Senior U.S. lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill to grant President Barack Obama the so-called "fast-track" authority to move forward his ambitious trade agenda.

The fast-track legislation, formally known as trade promotion authority (TPA), empowers the president to negotiate trade deals and then present them to Congress for up-or-down votes, with no amendments allowed.

It would give U.S. trading partners the confidence they need to put their best offers on the table, according to lawmakers and trade analysts. Without such authority, Obama's hopes to enact trade deals before he leaves office would be doomed.

The legislation was announced Thursday afternoon by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, Ranking member Ron Wyden and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan.

"This is a smart, bipartisan compromise that will help move America forward," Hatch said in a statement. "The renewal of TPA will help American workers and job creators unlock new opportunities for growth and promote better, higher-paying jobs here at home."

Obama welcomed the move, saying it would help the U.S. "write those rules in a way that avoids the mistakes from our past, seizes opportunities for our future, and stays true to our values."

"I look forward to working with Democrats and Republicans in Congress to pass this bill, seize this opportunity, and support more good American jobs with the wages and benefits hardworking families deserve," the president said in a statement.

The legislation comes as the Obama administration steps up efforts to push for two ambitious trade deals -- the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks with 11 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations with the European Union.

As a coalition of liberal Democrats and Tea Party Republicans has vowed to block Obama's trade agenda, it is unclear whether the legislation could get enough votes for passage in both houses of Congress. Endi