AFP, Washington :
President Barack Obama inched closer Tuesday to gaining a powerful tool as he tries to seal a trans-Pacific trade deal designed to counter the economic might of China.
The tool is called fast-track authority, under which once the United States signs a trade deal with other countries, the president submits it to Congress for a yes-or-no vote.
Lawmakers can debate such an accord but not amend it. They have to vote yes or no, treating the accord as a whole rather than being able to tweak a piece of it; they must in essence take it or leave it.
A vote on giving Obama this authority will probably come Wednesday. Negotiations on the trade deal itself continue.
What happened Tuesday to help Obama was strictly a procedural matter, in the Senate. It was a vote on whether to shorten debate leading up to the definitive, final vote on granting Obama fast-track authority.
Most Democrats in both chambers of Congress oppose the Pacific free-trade accord, saying among things it will cause Americans to lose jobs because of cheap labor in Asia.
So on this issue, Obama and the Republicans who control both chambers have become odd bedfellows.
In Tuesday’s vote, most Senate Democrats tried to make life difficult for Obama by voting against letting the fast-track bill move closer to a definitive vote. It was their final attempt to delay the process, and it failed.
The final numbers in the vote were 60-37. Of those voting in favor, 13 were Democrats who sided with the Republicans.
Gaining fast-track authority would mark a triumph for Obama in a saga that has torn his Democratic Party apart in recent weeks.
The vote will let the United States “negotiate and enforce strong, high-standard trade agreements that are good for our economy and good for our workers,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest wrote.
The House passed the bill last week despite a nearly all-out rebellion by the Democrats.
The bill will force an up-or-down vote on trade not just this time but on any future trade bill negotiated by the US president.
For the past 40 years, all US presidents have enjoyed fast-track authority, such as with Mexico and Canada in the case of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
With the new bill, Obama and whoever succeeds him will have such leeway until 2018, with a possible extension until 2021. That should help a free-trade accord in the works with the European Union.
But first comes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, billed as the biggest trade accord in history. Obama wants to sign it before he leaves office in January 2017.
The agreement under negotiation, comprising an estimated 40 percent of global trade, is a sweeping pact among 12 countries including Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan and Vietnam.
It would create a free-trade area to counter the economic might of China in the Asia-Pacific region.
Tuesday’s vote will send a message to US allies that we understand they are “somewhat wary about Chinese commercial and potentially military domination and that we intend to still be deeply involved in the Pacific,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
Environmental groups opposed to the trade bill fear the application of a private arbitration system which they say will allow companies to sue states over environmental or labor laws that violate the terms of the Pacific trade deal.
“The Senate vote today illustrates the raw power of wealthy campaign contributors, Wall Street financiers, Big Oil and other corporate polluters to put the will of corporations in front of people and the environment,” said the president of Friends of the Earth, Erich Pica.
Tuesday’s vote went ahead only after Republican leaders made a concession: they agreed to pass, by the end of the week, a law aimed at helping workers who lost their jobs because of previous free trade accords.
The few Democrats who agreed to side with the Republicans had demanded this and called it non-negotiable.
President Barack Obama inched closer Tuesday to gaining a powerful tool as he tries to seal a trans-Pacific trade deal designed to counter the economic might of China.
The tool is called fast-track authority, under which once the United States signs a trade deal with other countries, the president submits it to Congress for a yes-or-no vote.
Lawmakers can debate such an accord but not amend it. They have to vote yes or no, treating the accord as a whole rather than being able to tweak a piece of it; they must in essence take it or leave it.
A vote on giving Obama this authority will probably come Wednesday. Negotiations on the trade deal itself continue.
What happened Tuesday to help Obama was strictly a procedural matter, in the Senate. It was a vote on whether to shorten debate leading up to the definitive, final vote on granting Obama fast-track authority.
Most Democrats in both chambers of Congress oppose the Pacific free-trade accord, saying among things it will cause Americans to lose jobs because of cheap labor in Asia.
So on this issue, Obama and the Republicans who control both chambers have become odd bedfellows.
In Tuesday’s vote, most Senate Democrats tried to make life difficult for Obama by voting against letting the fast-track bill move closer to a definitive vote. It was their final attempt to delay the process, and it failed.
The final numbers in the vote were 60-37. Of those voting in favor, 13 were Democrats who sided with the Republicans.
Gaining fast-track authority would mark a triumph for Obama in a saga that has torn his Democratic Party apart in recent weeks.
The vote will let the United States “negotiate and enforce strong, high-standard trade agreements that are good for our economy and good for our workers,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest wrote.
The House passed the bill last week despite a nearly all-out rebellion by the Democrats.
The bill will force an up-or-down vote on trade not just this time but on any future trade bill negotiated by the US president.
For the past 40 years, all US presidents have enjoyed fast-track authority, such as with Mexico and Canada in the case of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
With the new bill, Obama and whoever succeeds him will have such leeway until 2018, with a possible extension until 2021. That should help a free-trade accord in the works with the European Union.
But first comes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, billed as the biggest trade accord in history. Obama wants to sign it before he leaves office in January 2017.
The agreement under negotiation, comprising an estimated 40 percent of global trade, is a sweeping pact among 12 countries including Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan and Vietnam.
It would create a free-trade area to counter the economic might of China in the Asia-Pacific region.
Tuesday’s vote will send a message to US allies that we understand they are “somewhat wary about Chinese commercial and potentially military domination and that we intend to still be deeply involved in the Pacific,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
Environmental groups opposed to the trade bill fear the application of a private arbitration system which they say will allow companies to sue states over environmental or labor laws that violate the terms of the Pacific trade deal.
“The Senate vote today illustrates the raw power of wealthy campaign contributors, Wall Street financiers, Big Oil and other corporate polluters to put the will of corporations in front of people and the environment,” said the president of Friends of the Earth, Erich Pica.
Tuesday’s vote went ahead only after Republican leaders made a concession: they agreed to pass, by the end of the week, a law aimed at helping workers who lost their jobs because of previous free trade accords.
The few Democrats who agreed to side with the Republicans had demanded this and called it non-negotiable.
