Lawmakers Put Trade Deals on the Fast Track
Despite growing concerns
Lawmakers on Thursday unveiled legislation to put congressional backing of trade deals on a fast track, including language aimed at discouraging trading partners from using their currencies to gain a competitive advantage.
The legislation—known formally as "trade promotion authority," which means Congress approves trade pacts on an up-or-down vote without amending them—would apply to trade agreements for the next four years. Its most immediate implications would be for a pan-Pacific trade pact that U.S. negotiators hope to finish early this year.
The legislation was released by top House and Senate lawmakers despite increasingly vocal opposition on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers in both parties are concerned that Congress will get cut out of the negotiations if they agree to put coming trade pacts on a fast track.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?