The Obama administration and congressional leaders are nearing consensus on three pending trade agreements and the renewal of support for workers who have been displaced by global trade, ending a standoff that some feared would put U.S. exports at risk, said business, administration and congressional officials close to the discussions.
Free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama have become a centerpiece of the Obama administration’s efforts to boost U.S. sales overseas, a foray into trade politics by a president who, as a candidate, expressed skepticism about the benefits of prior free trade pacts. The Korea deal is expected to generate more than $10 billion in additional annual sales for U.S. companies.
But the controversy over the U.S. deficit has stalled the deals, with Republicans opposing renewal of the billion-dollar-a-year Trade Adjustment Assistance program. The Obama administration has said it would not submit the trade pacts unless the assistance program is reauthorized to help workers hurt by outsourcing or increased imports.
After weeks of talks, however, “they are within striking distance of a deal,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas J. Donohue said at a news conference Wednesday morning — an assessment shared by administration and congressional officials familiar with the negotiations.
None of those involved would provide details of a possible deal. But support among congressional Democrats and the White House for the trade assistance program has been widespread, and Donohue suggested that Republican opposition to the program was narrower than suspected.
He said that a recent Republican Study Committee letter opposing Trade Adjustment Assistance drew only 11 signatures and that dozens in the class of GOP freshmen had endorsed approval of the free trade pacts.
Read more at The Washington Post.