The US House of Representatives approved ? by ONE vote - HR 3005, The Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) Act of 2001 (215-214). Going right down to the wire when it looked like a lost battle, three legislators voted aye at the very last minute to put the vote over the edge. Throughout the day, the debate was heated and quite partisan.
TPA allows the president to negotiate trade agreements with our trading partners, and then Congress must vote up or down on the final agreement. No amendments can be added or changes made. The president has not had this authority since 1994 when it expired.
Foreign imports into the US face only about a 2% tariff while American companies have to pay upward of 20%-30% duties to sell in many key markets in Asia and South America. However, without TPA, it became very difficult for President Bush to negotiate trade agreements with foreign leaders who did want to negotiate with the Administration, and then have to re-negotiate the same agreement with Congress.
Making the situation worse, other countries were continuing to conclude trade agreements among themselves ? leaving US companies at a further disadvantage. There are more than 130 trade agreements around the world, and the US is party to only three. With TPA, President Bush can now move full force ahead on negotiations with Chile, Singapore, Latin America and many other countries with whom we have begun talks. The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is one of the most important of these negotiations.
Carlo Trojan, the EU's representative to the WTO in Geneva, told a Washington audience that there is a widespread perception among the world's trading nations that unless Congress passes Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) there is little point in holding serious negotiations in the WTO. "We in the EU do consider that the U.S. should have TPA as soon as possible so we can engage in real negotiations," Trojan said in his remarks at the European Institute in Washington. Delaying serious negotiations could do serious harm to the negotiating timetable.
Now it goes to the Senate where the battle lines and strategies are already underway.
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