The house Need to Pass Trade Promotion Authority

Mawaddah Farhany
1801441354

Protectionists and xenophobes are holding up much-needed trade promotion authority in Congress.

The U.S. economy has been stagnant since before the beginning of the Obama administration. It's true the president has done little, if anything, to makes things better; massive government stimulus programs costing trillions where much of the money is lost, Mr. President, do not work.

The economy needs a kick to start it moving in the right direction. New trade deals with the European Union and what has been labeled the Trans-Pacific Partnership could be just the thing needed to get exports up, reduce the trade imbalance and, most importantly, put people back to work.

Since the signing of NAFTA during the Clinton years, the U.S. trade agenda has been largely moribund for a lot of reasons. Where the U.S. could have been aggressive in its pursuit of additional bi- and multi-lateral trade agreements, it has been timid. The last years of the George W. Bush presidency and the first years of Obama's, where trade protectionists held the majority in Congress, it was admittedly pointless to attempt such deals.

Trade promotion authority is critical to America's future competitiveness and ability to participate in the global economy. The nationalistic retrenchment that is occurring in some parts of the Republican Party on national security matters should not be allowed to spill over into the economic arena. Global tariffs, which are really just another form of taxes, must come down. Trade agreements do that while establishing rules of conduct on which everyone is agreed, making trade not just "freer" but "fairer."

The House should join the Senate in giving trade promotion authority to the president. This does not obligate lawmakers in any way to approve any of the trade deals he may submit to them once he has it. The Trans-Pacific Partnership and other agreements could still be voted down if, as some people are already arguing out of their gut and without the benefit of insider knowledge, it actually is a bad deal for the American worker. 

www.usnews.com