The Obama administration is continuing its push for controversial legislation that would fast track trade deals including the massive Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), now nearing the end stages.
The legislation is Trade Promotion Authority, also known as Fast Track, which Rich Bindell of watchdog group Food and Water Watch described as a “highway to hell.”
TechDirt‘s Michael Masnick explains that Fast Track
The latest pitch for the power came Monday from the nation’s top trade authority, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, in his remarks to the National Association of Counties.
Froman called the TPP “the most ambitious trade agenda in American history” and said that “the finish line for TPP negotiations is in sight.”
He called the trade deal “our main tool for leveling the playing field for American workers and businesses,” and, in contrast to arguments made by watchdog groups, said the TPP “gives us the opportunity to protect workers, to protect the environment, and to tackle a number of issues that have never been addressed.”
Froman said Fast Track is “the way Congress gives direction to the President about what to negotiate, how to consult with Congress before and during the negotiations and how Congress will decide at the end of the day—after an extensive public debate—whether to support or reject a trade agreement. “
But as Masnick’s explanation of fast track elucidated, it prevents Congress from giving direction on deals by taking away their opportunities to add amendments.
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