State farms, firms support fast-track

But Arkansans in Congress are split on giving Obama trade-deal power

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, testifying Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee, said “it’s a great priority” for President Barack Obama to have the authority to move ahead on an agreement with 11 trade partners.
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, testifying Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee, said “it’s a great priority” for President Barack Obama to have the authority to move ahead on an agreement with 11 trade partners.

WASHINGTON -- Arkansas agriculture and business interests are among the groups pushing for Congress to give President Barack Obama authority to fast-track foreign trade deals.

Members of the state's all-Republican congressional delegation are split over whether to grant the Democratic president the power to negotiate trade deals, called trade promotion authority. Some say they want limits on what the president can agree to.

Past presidents have been granted this authority, although it expired during George W. Bush's administration.

If given the authority, the executive branch could complete negotiations on one of the largest trade pacts in the nation's history, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In negotiations since 2008, it would set rules for trade among the United States and 11 countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and Vietnam.

Lawmakers would not be able to amend the trade deal once it was taken to them and would be required to hold a quick up or down vote on it, without filibuster as an option.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that an agreement among the countries in the partnership should be ready within the next few months and that the president needs the authority to move forward on it.

"Literally as we speak, our negotiators are meeting with the other 11 countries," he said. "I have a great deal of support from the president on down. It's a great priority for him."

Supporters say the authority, commonly called fast-track, assures foreign governments that Congress won't change a deal or keep it in limbo once it has been negotiated. It also encourages the executive branch to work through concerns raised by businesses and individual members of Congress before the bill goes to Capitol Hill.

Opponents, including several labor and environmental groups, have said any trade deals should be negotiated publicly and with congressional input. Many are concerned that the final deal won't adequately protect workers and the environment.

"We can't face the competitive challenge of China with a trade deal that fails to adequately address currency manipulation, climate change or that gives corporations rights that people don't have," AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement after the State of the Union address.

And, the American Civil Liberties Union says changes in intellectual-property laws that could affect free speech should be publicly debated.

The presidential authority was first put into law in the Trade Act of 1974. It has been repeatedly extended, with the most recent authority expiring July 1, 2007. Obama has repeatedly asked Congress to extend the authority again.

President Bill Clinton negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement using his fast-track authority. Most recently, Congress approved deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

ARKANSAS EXPORTS

Trade agreements are an important part of helping Arkansas companies expand globally, Arkansas World Trade Center President Dan Hendrix said.

"It will obviously open up additional markets, favorable markets, for our Arkansas companies to build not only their brand, but their revenues," he said.

The trade center, based in Rogers, works to help Arkansas businesses compete globally. Hendrix said more than 40,000 Arkansans are employed by companies that are exporting goods overseas.

"We're going to be left behind if this doesn't move forward," Hendrix said.

Wal-Mart Senior Director of Federal Government Relations Sarah Thorn said the Arkansas-based retailer hopes Congress will give Obama trade-promotion authority by the end of March.

"If we can do this in the first quarter, then that really gives them the momentum to conclude this agreement," she said.

Wal-Mart operates in 27 countries, and when the company moves into a country without a trade pact with the United States, it pays tariffs, taxes and licensing fees that local companies don't have to pay, she said.

"These trade agreements help us level the playing field for retail overseas," Thorn said.

Trade agreements mean lower prices for customers and new business for Wal-Mart suppliers who might not have the resources to export products on their own, Thorn said.

"We tend to be an export gateway for a lot of U.S. products," she said. "We're selling cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory around the world."

The U.S. should help set the rules, she said.

"It's a question of lost opportunity. Our competitors are negotiating, other countries are negotiating these agreements," Thorn said. "We want to make sure we're there at the table."

The Arkansas Farm Bureau supports giving the president trade authority, said Zac Bradley, the Bureau's director of public policy for national affairs.

"You're talking about some of the world's leading food markets and opening them up to a bilateral trade agreement where Arkansas agricultural commodities would be able to be marketed against commodities from across the world," Bradley said. "The ability to sell to those markets would just be an extreme benefit to the economy of the state of Arkansas and to Arkansas agriculture producers."

A trade agreement would get mired in Congress if lawmakers could amend the deal, he said.

"Each congressional district in the country is unique in what its export market looks like. Each congressman is therefore beholden to promote those things," Bradley said.

Bradley said the president can negotiate a deal that is best for the whole country, not just a state.

CONGRESS' STAND

When Obama asked Congress for the authorization during his State of the Union address, many on the Republican side of the chamber cheered, while many Democrats sat in silence.

Arkansas' U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford said he supports fast-track in theory, but wants to see what it will actually look like.

"I have some reservations about carte blanche [authority] for the president given his track record for unilateral action. If we could have some role in that and final authority, I'd certainly be open to it," he said. "There needs to be a very robust advise and consent role on [the] part of Congress. We're part of the deal, we should be and that should be respected."

Arkansas' U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton said he has reservations about handing over too much power to the executive branch. He said Congress could grant the authority, but limit it to what was accepted in recent trade agreements in Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

"We could include limitations in trade promotion authority that says the president cannot impose additional labor or environmental standards in any free trade agreement beyond what was approved in those three agreements. If the Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid Congress was willing to abide by those agreements then we should not empower the president to impose heightened restrictions on labor practices or environmental standards that will ultimately only cost jobs and drive up prices for Arkansas consumers," he said.

Arkansas' U.S. Sen. John Boozman said the only way to get a trade deal is to give the president the power he needs to negotiate it.

The final authority is still left to the House and Senate, he said, so the White House has an incentive to consider members' concerns during negotiations.

"He'll be able to negotiate, and then we'll vote it up or down," Boozman said.

Boozman helped secure the World Trade Center for Arkansas in 2007, something he said has already helped Arkansas exports.

"My frustration is all of these container ships coming here [to the U.S.] filled to the brim and then they go back empty," Boozman said. "We want to start filling those things up and sending them back to the countries they came from. This is how you do that."

House and Senate leaders have said they support giving Obama trade authority, but senators from both parties said last week that if Obama wants their support, they need more assurances.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the president will have to lobby lawmakers to get the necessary 60 votes.

"He's going to have to work the telephones one on one," he said.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is concerned about countries that violate trade agreements. He said he is skeptical that the United States goes after those violators aggressively enough.

Complaints over violations of trade agreements are lodged with the World Trade Organization, based in Geneva, which arbitrates trade disputes.

"While all the litigation goes on, our people get clobbered and ... lose jobs," Schumer said. "The administration needs to [prove] to us and to the world we're going to start fighting back."

Froman said the United States takes violations seriously and has prevailed in several complaints it has lodged over matters like intellectual property theft and currency manipulation.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said any final deal needs to protect American workers. She pointed to trade deals that resulted in American manufacturing jobs moving overseas.

"The key is to export our products and not our jobs," she said.

A section on 02/01/2015

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