Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), who is attending his first hearing as chairman after the retirement of Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) makes opening remarks as on hearings on President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2015 Budget, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, March 5, 2014…. REUTERS/MIKE THEILER
Senior U.S. lawmakers reached agreement on Thursday on the wording of a bill aimed at giving the White House “fast track” authority to negotiate a Pacific trade pact that is central to President Barack Obama’s strategic shift toward Asia.
The agreement, over six months in the making, sets the stage for a bruising legislative battle over Obama’s proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and similar trade deals, with many Democrats opposed to the legislation along with a small but vocal contingent of Republicans.
The TPP, a potential legacy-defining achievement for Obama, would connect a dozen economies by cutting trade barriers and harmonizing standards covering two-fifths of the world economy and a third of global trade.
The bill gives lawmakers the right to set negotiating objectives, but would restrict them to a yes-or-no vote on trade deals such as the TPP.
The Obama administration announced in late 2009 that it was entering TPP negotiations with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
