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Trade Promotion Authority (TPA): Issues, Options, and Prospects for Renewal [Updated July 12, 2007]

On July 1, 2007, Trade Promotion Authority (TPA — formerly known as fast track), expired. TPA is the authority Congress grants to the President to enter into certain free trade agreements (FTAs), and to have their implementing bills considered under expedited legislative procedures, provided he observes certain statutory obligations in negotiating them. TPA allows Congress to exercise its constitutional authority over trade, while giving the President added leverage to exercise his authority to negotiate trade agreements by effectively assuring U.S. trade partners that final agreements are given swift and unamended consideration. TPA reflects years of debate, cooperation, and compromise between Congress and the Executive Branch in finding a pragmatic accommodation to the exercise of each branch's respective authorities. The core provisions of the fast track legislative procedures have remained unchanged since first enacted in 1974, although Congress has expanded trade negotiation objectives, oversight, and presidential notification requirements. While early versions of fast track/TPA received broad bipartisan support, renewal efforts became increasingly controversial as fears grew over real and perceived negative effects of trade, and as the trade debate became more partisan in nature, culminating in a largely party-line vote on the 2002 renewal. The current renewal debate is centered on the broad effects of trade on the United States, with an emphasis on numerous specific issues that may be given greater weight in the future: labor, environment, and public health provisions; stricter enforcement of trade agreements; enhanced trade adjustment assistance programs; and revisions to the role of Congress in trade policy making. Bilateral agreements with Panama, Peru, Colombia, and South Korea were signed in time to be considered under the 2002 TPA. The protracted WTO Doha Round of multilateral negotiations is still incomplete and may yet be the remaining key trade agreement that could compel Congress to consider extending or renewing TPA. Some observers also suggest that TPA is important to support future bilateral FTA negotiations, particularly given that many countries appear ready to continue pursuing FTAs irrespective of U.S. trade policy. Key Members of the House and Senate, however, have signaled that TPA renewal is not at the top of the legislative agenda and will require considerable deliberation before it can be passed. Congress has many options in dealing with TPA: take no action; extend temporarily; revise and renew; grant permanent authority; or devise some hybrid solution. How this issue plays out depends on a host of political and …