WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today marks the formal expiration of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), last reauthorized by Congress in 2015. The expiration deadline for trade deals to be presented to Congress hit on April 1, 2021 (see USA Rice Daily, March 31, 2021). TPA is also known as “fast track” authority, providing trade negotiating power to the Executive Branch and requiring Congress to ratify trade agreements through an “up or down” vote that prevents amendments to the proposed trade agreements.
The primary purpose of TPA is to give the President leverage with trading partners during negotiations, preventing significant changes to the text once a handshake agreement is reached. The Administration is still free to negotiate trade agreements without TPA authorization; however, any deals reached would be subject to amendments by legislators and would face an uphill battle to ratify.
“The Administration has yet to publicly prioritize reauthorization of TPA, a process that can take anywhere from months to years to accomplish,” said Peter Bachmann, USA Rice vice president of international trade policy.
“We are hopeful that the Administration will soon announce a nominee to be the USTR’s chief agriculture negotiator as well as resume trade talks with the United Kingdom and Kenya. If agreements can be reached, Congress can always retroactively reauthorize TPA to ratify those trade agreements that were caught in the lapse.”