‘Momentum on our side’ in trade fight, declares liberal senator

A top Democratic opponent of President Obama’s trade agenda on Wednesday said a failed procedural vote in the Senate has shifted the momentum into his camp. 

Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), a member of the Senate Finance Committee who is vehemently opposed to fast-tracking trade deals as well as the policy direction of an Asia-Pacific pact, said lawmakers are responding to the call to halt trade agreements that would hurt U.S. workers. 

{mosads}“The momentum is on our side. The call to protect American workers and businesses from another NAFTA-style trade deal is being heard,” Brown wrote in an email to supporters. 

“Let’s keep the momentum going,” he said while urging supporters to sign a petition against the trade agenda.

The Senate came up short on Tuesday in the first test vote on trade promotion authority (TPA), also called fast-track, with Democrats insisting that four trade bills move through the Senate either in a package or close together. 

“Senate Democrats stood united and demanded a full and thorough debate of trade policy,” Brown said of Tuesday’s vote. 

“We must consider all four trade bills reported out of the Finance Committee as one package.”

“This will help crack down on currency manipulation, give American industries — like the steel industry — new tools to fight back when their competitors cheat, and put an end to the import of products made with child labor.”

The steel industry is a big part of Ohio’s economy.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has suggested taking a separate vote on a provision that would punish currency manipulators, which is included in the customs enforcement bill. That move could make it easier to put the four trade bills into one package. 

Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who met with 14 pro-trade Democrats on Tuesday, said they wanted assurances from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that none of the bills, especially the customs measure, would get left behind in the scramble to complete fast-track legislation.  

The White House and other trade supporters, including Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), downplayed the failed vote as a minor setback.