U.S. Lawmakers Likely to Grant Obama Trade Promotion Authority

A bipartisan congressional agreement on granting President Obama trade promotion authority for a pan-Pacific trade deal is likely this spring. Congressman Paul Ryan, and seven other lawmakers met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to promote the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership. Progress toward a final TPP agreement among the dozen countries involved in the trade talks hinges partly on settling disputes between the U.S. and Japan on trade on farm products and autos. Trade promotion authority would set guidelines but let the White House send Congress a trade proposal to adopt or reject, but not amend. Without that guarantee, it is harder for the other countries involved in the talks to make tough political decisions. Despite opposition to both the TPP initiative and TPA among labor groups and many Democrats, Ryan said he believes an agreement is possible.