Deal on Trade Pact Gives Obama Authority but Builds in a Delay

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*Deal on Trade Pact Gives Obama Authority but Builds in a Delay* *By* *JONATHAN WEISMAN <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/jonathan_weisman/index.html>* *and* *MICHAEL D. SHEAR <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/michael_d_shear/index.html>*APRIL 21, 2015 Photo http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/business/obama-fast-track-pacific-trade-deal.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0 WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers and the White House have agreed to subject any trade deal negotiated by President Obama <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per> to a monthslong review by Congress and the public, a concession aimed at winning the support of Democrats who view trade agreements as a threat to American workers. That provision, expected to be formally approved Wednesday by the Senate Finance Committee, would give Mr. Obama the “fast-track” authority he has been seeking to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership with a dozen Pacific Rim nations, potentially expanding markets for American companies. But the compromise will almost certainly push a major trade accord with Asia into the presidential election season, a politically charged prospect that trade supporters had hoped to avoid. As a result of the delays built into the legislation, final consideration of the trade pact could fall to the next president, just as the North American Free Trade Agreement, completed by President George H. W. Bush, was passed under his successor, Bill Clinton. “What I hope it will do is have people say, ‘They’re changing the playbook on trade,’ ” said Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, who demanded the open comment period after facing intense pressure from liberal and labor groups. “I’m very much aware there isn’t going to be any kumbaya moment here. I’m probably more aware of that than practically anybody in the United States at this point.” Mr. Obama made an energetic case for free trade in an interview broadcast Tuesday night <http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/watch/president-obama-defends-tpp-deal-431711811768> and predicted that Congress would soon give him the fast-track authority to complete the Asia-Pacific trade deal, the largest trade accord since Nafta went into effect in 1994. “I would not be doing this trade deal if I did not think it was good for the middle class,” Mr. Obama said in the interview. “And when you hear folks make a lot of suggestions about how bad this trade deal is, when you dig into the facts they are wrong.” Mr. Obama made his comments, meant to counter lawmakers in his own party who oppose the deal, on Tuesday during the taping of a panel discussion on free trade hosted by Chris Matthews, the host of the MSNBC program “Hardball.” But in agreeing to the terms of the legislation granting him trade promotion authority, Mr. Obama has probably made the job of actually approving such a trade accord far more difficult. Trade promotion authority gives Congress the right to accept or reject a trade deal but not amend or filibuster <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/filibusters_and_debate_curbs/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier> it. But the new bill before both the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees this week lays out new requirements for openness and review. The president would have to notify Congress of the accord’s completion 90 days before he intends to sign it, a delay similar to past requirements. But in a new twist, the full agreement would have to be made public for 60 days before the president gives his final assent and sends it to Congress. Congress could not begin considering it for 30 days after that. That extra time means that Congress probably will not consider the Trans-Pacific Partnership until at least October, the thick of the presidential primary debate season and just as White House hopefuls are preparing for the first primary voting. “It’s like 180 days that the T.P.P. has to lay out there,” said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican. Mr. Wyden defended the addition of the waiting period and said it was a reason that Congress should act quickly to approve the legislation. “In the vicinity of four months, the American people will be able to sit at a town hall meeting and read what’s in T.P.P. and ask questions about it,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons to move now.” Supporters remained sanguine ahead of the Finance Committee’s formal drafting of the trade promotion bill. “Most people, if they look at it, think it’s pretty darned important,” Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah and the committee’s chairman, said of the Pacific accord. “Sooner or later we’re going to have to look at it.” Mr. Obama did his best to brush back opposition in his party from the liberal wing now associated with Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts. “I love Elizabeth,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Matthews during the interview. “We’re allies on a whole host of issues. But she’s wrong on this.” But the measure remains a political hot potato. Hillary Rodham Clinton, campaigning in New Hampshire, dodged a direct question of whether she supported giving Mr. Obama trade promotion authority. “Any trade deal has to produce jobs and raise wages and increase prosperity and protect our security,” she said. “We have to do our part in making sure we have the capabilities and the skills to be competitive.” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, declared “not only no but hell no” to trade promotion authority. If anything, the demands placed on the administration’s negotiators by the legislation are likely to become more onerous. Senators Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, and Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan, are expected to introduce an amendment in the Finance Committee on Wednesday requiring the Pacific deal to include enforceable language to ensure that foreign competitors do not manipulate currency exchange rates to keep their exports cheap and American exports more expensive. That measure has the strong support of the automotive industry, as well as key senators like Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina. *Correction: April 21, 2015* *An earlier version of this article stated incorrectly that the House would vote Wednesday on legislation that would give President Obama “fast-track authority” to negotiate trade deals. A House committee is holding a hearing on the legislation, but a vote has not been scheduled.*