Cleveland - Congress Should Grant President Obama Fast-Track Trade Authority

Op-Ed

President Barack Obama reasonably wants what several presidents before him have had -- the temporary ability to negotiate international trade deals that can be fast-tracked through Congress on an up-or-down vote without deal-breaking amendments.

Such fast-track authority -- or, as it's now called, Trade Promotion Authority -- has factored into the passage of many trade pacts in the past, most notably the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Obama, who favors free trade, now has a good chance to win that authority from Congress, since Republicans control both houses -- one reason for the current partisan outcry from members of the president's own Democratic Party. Yet often, the criticism is couched in unproven generalizations about the impact of trade on jobs.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio's senior senator, for instance, has been among the more outspoken Democratic opponents of past agreements, such as NAFTA.

NAFTA does have some inherent problems given the differences among the Mexican, U.S. and Canadian economies. Yet the next trade deal in the pipeline aims to remedy that with unusually strong labor and environmental protections as part of the package. That, at any rate, is the expectation of U.S. officials negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Canada, Mexico, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. It should be ready for congressional vote later this year. A similar trade and investment agreement with the European Union is not as far along.

What's paramount for Obama administration negotiators while forging the Trans-Pacific Partnership is that the details are available to Congress and that lawmakers' opinions are thoroughly considered.

If trade agreements can accentuate the positive while mitigating the negative, that's a good thing. If they can open up foreign markets while insisting on a more level playing field, that strikes us as sound policy.

Obama has acknowledged problems with NAFTA, but U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said in an interview for this editorial that the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal will correct them. For example, he envisions enforceable mandates that call for unions, collective bargaining and the right to strike, as well as environmental regulations that protect wildlife and sensitive areas.

But debating the TPP is for another day. When a vote on Trade Promotion Authority comes before Congress (a bipartisan bill is expected to be introduced soon), it should be passed.

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