This week: Shutdown forces US to put off EU trade talks

{mosads}The $16.7 trillion debt limit needs to be hiked by Oct. 17, according to the Treasury Department. What was a shutdown driven by efforts to undercut ObamaCare has morphed into a broader fiscal debate likely to envelop the borrowing cap as well. 

The fight has kept members of both parties guessing, and that end game uncertainty is likely to continue for some time, potentially up to the debt-limit deadline. 

With staffs furloughed during the shutdown, most congressional committees have erased their hearing schedules and halted all ongoing work until the government reopens its doors. 

One rare bit of committee activity will come Thursday at the Senate Banking Committee. 

As Democrats in Congress and the White House look to underline the economic damage that could come from a debt default, that panel will welcome the heads of major financial industry groups to offer their take. 

Republicans are looking to extract major concessions from the left in exchange for a borrowing boost, and Democrats are looking to enlist the business and financial communities in the effort to push back on those demands. 

The heads of the American Bankers Association, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the National Association of Realtors and the Investment Company Institute will testify before the panel on what a default could mean for markets and the broader economy. 

Outside of Washington, U.S. officials and business leaders are still headed to Indonesia for the APEC CEO and leadership summits through Tuesday.

Topics are expected to include the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other economic and security issues. Leaders had hoped to announce, at least, a basic agreement on the TPP, but it became clear on Friday that it wouldn’t happen.

President Obama was forced to cancel his trip to APEC to meet with the world’s top leaders and is sending Secretary of State John Kerry to handle talks. 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will be busy meeting with various foreign leaders on trade and economic issues during the week. 

On Friday, new World Trade Organization Director-General Roberto Azevêdo will deliver his first address to the U.S. business community at the chamber. 

Chamber officials have praised Azevêdo for taking a more aggressive stance in tackling many long-delayed priorities, including trade facilitation and other issues confronting the rules-based trading system. 

On Thursday, the chamber will chat with finance ministers from the four Pacific Alliance countries — Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru — for a regional economic update and discussion on investment opportunities in the area. 

That same day, the chamber’s U.S.-Turkey Business Council, with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, will meet with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan ahead of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington. 

Babacan will deliver remarks on the importance of the U.S.-Turkey bilateral relationship.