Lawmakers Undecided on Moving TPA Standalone Bill or Trade Package

Despite renewed vigor to tackle Trade Promotion Authority in the 114th Congress, Senate lawmakers continue to negotiate whether to add a number of expired or expiring trade bills to an initial TPA package, senators and lobbyists said over recent days. Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, may still opt to introduce a standalone TPA bill, said those interviewed. Either way, many lawmakers, but primarily Democrats, are poised to muscle a number of amendments onto the bill at some point in the legislative process.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman took to Senate Finance on Jan. 27 to hammer home the administration’s preference for Trade Promotion Authority, and many lawmakers and observers say some TPA legislation will surface in the coming days or weeks (see 1501070057). But industry representatives are targeting TPA not just as a tool to secure free trade agreements, but as a vehicle for those pending trade bills.

Froman didn’t chime in to the debate over the contents of a potential package in the hearing, nor did Finance members confirm an approach. But during the hearing, which was loudly interrupted by protestors who said the Trans-Pacific Partnership will hurt American jobs and regulations, Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pushed lawmakers to conduct the legislative process in a transparent way. "Once a bill is ready, it must be available to the public," Wyden said in his opening statement at the hearing. "And there must be a fair and open process for its review and consideration."

Renewal bills for the Generalized System of Preferences and African Growth and Opportunity Act are the most likely candidates for an initial package, said several lobbyists. Industry representatives, such as the National Association of Manufacturers (here) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (here), also continue to urge lawmakers to pass Customs Reauthorization, the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill, renewal for some Nicaragua tariff-preference levels and other bills. Froman said he wants to work with Congress to pass GSP and AGOA renewals, as well as Trade Adjustment Assistance.

A TPA package may also include a bill to revamp the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill submission process, said Ron Sorini, a Washington lobbyist and former USTR negotiator. Finance member Rob Portman, R-Ohio, recently said that legislation may resolve the Senate MTB impasse over earmarks (see 1501210047).

Many trade and business leaders say lawmakers are nearly guaranteed to float a TPA bill soon, and the bill has the votes to pass both chambers. “I am very confident this is going to pass and go to the president. I certainly expect it to be done the first quarter of the year. So I don’t think it should take longer than that,” said John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, during a recent event. “These things are always a little messy and they’re tough. But no, we’re going to succeed.” But after taking up TPA, another trade package may not move again in foreseeable future so those trade bills that don’t make the cut this time around may be doomed for a long while, many observers have said over recent months.

In an interview on Jan. 26, Hatch said he preferred that the initial package didn’t include AGOA renewal, but didn’t note any drawbacks in including it. He and Finance ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are continuing to negotiate the terms of the legislation, Hatch said. “We haven’t made any final determinations, and I won’t make them without discussing it with Sen. Wyden,” said Hatch. Wyden also attested to their ongoing conversation in comments on the same day.

Meanwhile, Finance member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said a trade package that includes those trade bills, all of which he described as non-controversial aside from the MTB, will strengthen its support in the full chamber. Portman called on Congress to clear the deck of pending trade bills. “Whether we do it together with TPA or separately, this is an opportunity for us to cooperate with the other side of the aisle and get some things done. “I hope we can do it all together, but if we can’t, we gotta work to move them separately.”

The newly-restored Senate amendment process this Congress may be factoring into the TPA calculus now, said a former Senate Finance staffer. Republicans hailed a new era for the open amendment process in the Senate after seizing the chamber several weeks ago, but the process has sputtered in the two weeks of consideration on the Keystone pipeline legislation. Senate Democrats obstructed on Jan. 26 Republican attempts to wrap up debate on the bill (here).

The decision to go at TPA alone initially, or make it the flagship item in a package, is a real challenge for lawmakers and their aides, said the former staffer. “It’s too early yet to know how they’re going to play this out,” he said. “One initial observation from Keystone process and Hatch’s comments, is that he wants to move it through ‘regular order,’ but those parameters are still unclear.” Regular order is the processing of moving bills all the way through the legislative process transparently and openly. Hatch said he didn’t know how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., plans to tackle the Senate amendment process.

The goal for Hatch right now is to strike a deal with Wyden that gives TPA strong support on the committee, said the former staffer. “If they can come together on the committee, with a strong number of Democrats, and led by Wyden and Hatch, that bodes well for the floor,” said the staffer. House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is also part of the conversation, said Hatch in the hearing.

The Republican mid-term victory boosted Republican Finance Committee ranks and several Republicans have said it will pass easily through the committee (see 1412170024). The bill is likely to closely resemble the TPA bill introduced a year ago, many lawmakers and observers say, and Democrats still often criticize the status quo U.S. trade agenda (see 1501220064).

Lawmakers are likely to include GSP in a package to “save time” in the legislative process, said National Foreign Trade Council President Bill Reinsch in an interview. Even if lawmakers don’t include GSP, AGOA and MTB in an initial package, those bills will certainly be pursued through the amendment process nonetheless, said Reinsch. Reinsch dismissed any speculation of moving independently on GSP before TPA, saying that program will attract too many amendments and will then unravel.