Top lawmakers spar over trade

A top House Democrat said Wednesday that most of the upset between his party and President Obama over global trade is rooted in a lack of congressional input in negotiations of a sweeping international pact.

Rep. Sandy Levin (Mich.), ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, said the White House’s efforts to limit Congress to an up-or-down vote on the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is depriving lawmakers of having leverage in molding the deal.

Trade promotion authority (TPA), or “fast-track” legislation, now making its way through Congress is too vague and doesn’t give lawmakers enough power to shape the contents of the TPP, he said.

{mosads}“It’s not a matter of trust. It’s a matter have our ability to work on a partnership basis with this administration on these unresolved issues or as the issues that need to be changed are worked on,” Levin said at Politico breakfast event on trade.

“To simply say to us, ‘You can vote yes or no at the end,’ that’s the main reason for all of this turbulence within the Democratic Party,” he said.

Levin said that he has been working for years to shape trade deals, especially the TPP, and his objective is to ensure a fast-track bill helps produce not only a good agreement but also one Democrats can support.

“We want to participate in putting together the right TPP, and my goal has always been to get, if not the majority of Democrats, a very substantial number of Democrats to have a bipartisan basis for a vote on trade,” Levin said.

“We’re not there. We need to get there in my judgment.”

Last week, Levin offered a substitute amendment to the fast-track bill, but it was shot down on a point of order and didn’t get a vote.

Levin said it wasn’t for lack of trying that he didn’t wasn’t involved in crafting the bipartisan fast-track measure put together by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah); Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the panel’s top Democrat; and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

“The reality is that early on we presented some ideas” that called for more specifics on the process and substance of fast-track, but “Republicans showed no interest in addressing these issues,” Levin said.

“I tried from the very beginning to say let’s dig into the TPP issues,” he said.

At the same event, Hatch argued that the bill “really makes Congress a partner with the administration,” highlighting a rare alliance between the White House and the GOP-controlled Congress.

Hatch said he finds it interesting that the chief promoters of fast-track legislation are Republicans who are supporting the White House because “we believe the president is right on this issue.”

“If we do it, it would be a tremendous step for the president,” Hatch said.

But he also has told the president that “your Democrats are making it more difficult.”

The president will have lunch on Wednesday with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) at the White House. And on Thursday, a majority of the 46-member New Democrat Coalition is expected to attend a meeting with the president at the White House.

So far, 11 members of the group have signed a letter signaling that they are willing to back the president’s trade agenda.

Hatch gave the president “a lot of credit for being willing to stand up because he’s getting a lot of criticism from some of his fellow Democrat friends that I think is not very good criticism under the circumstances.”

With the House and Senate poised to take up a bill next month, Hatch said there is momentum to complete a fast-track deal, as well as a potential accord on the TPP and a separate agreement with the 28-nation European Union this year.

The Senate is likely to take the first steps on the floor next month.

“Without this we will lose tremendous advantages, at least with these 11 countries over in the Pacific, and it would it would be catastrophic for us to lose this,” Hatch said.

Although there is an expectation that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will provide an open amendment process, Hatch said he would prefer “to keep amendments out because I think what we have would be accepted by these countries and the House as well.”

“If we can get this bill through, it will help us with trade negotiations all over the world,” Hatch said.

Ahead of a speech by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Hatch said he is confident the United States and Japan can bridge their differences and reach an agreement “that would be something that a lot of people didn’t think could happen.”

“It would be a high achievement of this administration and the Congress and it would be for the betterment of our country and the betterment of the world, to be honest with you,” he said.

“I’ve been involved in a few miracles in my Senate service, and it may take a miracle, but I think we can get it done.”

In the same vein, Hatch said that completion of the TPP puts “a lot of pressure on China.”

“Sure, China’s going to say that it doesn’t make any difference to them, but it makes a lot of difference to them and it not only puts the pressure on them to where they may want to be a little more active in trading with the United States,” Hatch said.

Still, he said the deal has to reach the high standards Congress is expecting.

“We still have to see that the trade agreement meets all the standards that we think are important. I’m counting on [U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman] to do a trade bill that makes sense,” Hatch said.

On Monday, Froman made his case for Obama’s trade policy before China’s American Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

“This is part of what President Obama has called doing trade right, and we hope it will not only set a new standard for those who are currently in TPP or who might be part of it in the future, but raise the game of all countries and encourage the kind of economic reform that supports a more open, stronger rules-based trading system,” Froman said.