US-EU Trade: The proposed US-EU trade agreement to be
finished by the end of 2014? (here)
That’s an ambitious timeline.
With negotiations starting in June, that gives a year and a
half. Compare that to some other
multiparty trade negotiations the US has been involved in . . . that’s really fast.
But, as has been discussed before on this blog, maybe there are things
that are different about the EU deal (e.g., here). One example of this is labor’s posture towards
the agreement. Statements from the Communications
Workers of America, United Steelworkers, United Auto Workers and a number of
other prominent labor organizations are positive, and suggest that a deal might operate to strengthen
US labor standards. Not surprisingly, not everyone is on board with such a development: “It would be inappropriate to try to alter U.S. labor
law through the back door,” said John Murphy, vice president of international
affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (article here).
In any case, US-EU negotiations already have a very different dynamic when compared to proposed trade agreements with developing countries.
In any case, US-EU negotiations already have a very different dynamic when compared to proposed trade agreements with developing countries.
USTR on the sequester: That 1.5-year timeline seems even
faster if the USTR is strapped for resources.
The USTR general council has cautioned that the sequester could have an
impact on the agency's ability to negotiate new agreements and initiate legal
disputes to enforces existing ones (here).
Trade promotion authority
(TPA): Also related to the US trade
agreement agenda is the status of TPA.
TPA facilitates Congressional passage of negotiated trade agreements by making the agreements subject to an up or down vote (i.e.,
without amendments and additional wrangling by legislators). This authority is often
viewed as an important tool to get trade deals through Congress, and it
expired in 2007. Two years ago, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) criticized
the Obama administration for failing to pursue trade-promotion authority. Hatch asserted that “This is the first president who hasn’t really asked for it
or hasn’t seemed to want it since Jimmy Carter.”
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