CFR Daily News Brief Update: U.S. Congressional Leaders Advance Trade Bill

April 17, 2015 Daily News Brief

TOP OF THE AGENDA U.S. Congressional Leaders Advance Trade Bill Top Democrats and Republicans from the U.S. Senate Finance Committee proposed (NYT) a bipartisan bill that would grant U.S. President Barack Obama "fast-track" trade promotion authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal on Thursday. The bill will allow (WSJ) lawmakers to set negotiating objectives for the deal and to vote for or against the agreement, but not to amend the agreement. A TPP agreement would connect (FT) a dozen economies in the Asia-Pacific region by reducing trade barriers and harmonizing high-level standards, and if concluded, the bloc would account for about 40 percent of the world economy. The TPP is considered a cornerstone of the Obama administration's policy in Asia.

ANALYSIS "America’s public rhetoric, or at least its private diplomacy, needs to make clear that the TPP is not designed to cleave Asia. That will help ensure any agreement is a geopolitical success, and an economic one," writes CFR's Michael A. Levi. "On reasonable estimates the TTIP and TPP could boost the world's annual output by as much as $600 billion—equivalent to adding another Saudi Arabia. Some $200 billion of that would accrue to America. The deal would also carry geopolitical benefits as well; China is quickly moving to build a global institutional infrastructure to rival America's. The deal in Congress is a step in the right direction, but the path ahead is fraught," writes the Economist.  "With the world’s economies hitting stiff headwinds, more free trade is the one big lever available to produce a lift for consumers, job-seekers and entrepreneurs. Passing Hatch-Wyden-Ryan as early as next week would also lift Congress’s sunken reputation," writes the Wall Street Journal.