Legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate last week to give the President Trade Promotion, or Fast Track, Authority. It allows the Chief Executive to negotiate trade agreements with just an up or down vote of Congress. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Vice President of Government Affairs, Colin Woodall, says trade is critical to the U.S. cattle industry, and TPA is the necessary catalyst to move that forward.
Woodall says most of the opposition to TPA is coming from Trade Unions which have a lot of influence on Democratic members of Congress. He says, however, having President Obama seeking TPA and being engaged on this is helping.
He says TPA does not exclude Congress from weighing in on trade agreements and the argument it takes away their authority doesn’t hold water.
Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch expects markup on the TPA legislation to happen later this week.
