Senate Democrats Fight Obama on Trade, Jobs

President Obama used the State of the Union address to point out that increasing international trade and exports can lead to job growth in the United States. He specifically requested Trade Promotion Authority, which expired in July 2007, in order to carry his words into action. Republicans have proclaimed their readiness to work with the President on this, but unfortunately Democrats—led by Majority Leader Reid—have rejected the call.

“I’m against fast-track … Everyone would be well-advised just to not push this right now.”  -- Senate Majority Leader Reid, 1/30/14

Trade Promotion Authority is the legislative framework Congress created for executive-legislative interaction on international trade matters. In the main, it outlines the legislature’s views on what the negotiating objectives should be in trade agreements, and requires the executive to consult up-front with the legislative branch when negotiating a trade agreement. In exchange, it promises that a signed agreement will be considered for approval and implementation by the Congress under expedited procedures without amendment.

The President can, of course, negotiate trade agreements on his own constitutional authority with respect to treaties and foreign affairs, but such agreements usually require implementing legislation, as Congress has the constitutional power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations.” In this respect, the Trade Promotion Authority structure is an exercise of that constitutional power, with many benefits for securing the implementation of trade agreements.

Trade Promotion Authority strengthens the negotiating hand and leverage of our trade negotiators, as it provides confidence that a completed agreement will be given timely consideration by the legislature. This, in turn, provides incentives to our trade partners to give us their best offers in the negotiation process because they know a completed deal will be considered by the legislature.

As the President said last week, increasing trade is absolutely vital to increasing economic growth. As the U.S. Trade Representative has explained: “Every $1 billion in exports of U.S. goods and services supports more than 5,000 U.S. jobs. In 2012, exports of U.S. goods and services supported an estimated 9.8 million American jobs, including 25 percent of all manufacturing jobs.”

“[Trade] could have a profound impact on jumpstarting the economies for all of us. It’s worth millions of jobs.”  -- Secretary of State Kerry, 2/1/14

Unfortunately, this is another area where President Obama’s actions don’t live up to his rhetoric. While the President is correct about the benefits of trade, he has not shown a sustained commitment to that cause. His lack of effort is made worse by congressional Democrats’ fight amongst themselves on the matter.

The Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee have jointly introduced a bill that provides the Trade Promotion Authority the President requested—S. 1900, the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act. As President Obama has noted recently, he has a pen and a phone. If he seriously believes in the benefits of free trade, he might want to use them to contact his Senate Majority Leader to request that he bring up that bill.