Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is urging Congress to renew the Trade Promotion Authority legislation which provides the authority for the executive branch to negotiate with trading partners and then send to Congress for an up or down vote without amendments.
While speaking during an annual agricultural trade conference organized by the Virginia governor’s office, Vilsack says he was hoping Congress during the course of this year begins to get serious about resuming and extending TPA, which would give the opportunity to complete negotiations with the United Kingdom potentially.
TPA allows the U.S. Trade Representative to enter trade discussions with negotiating objectives and priorities already agreed upon by Congress, which provides potential trading partners with the confidence that the U.S. Congress is likely to ratify any final agreement reached. TPA has been utilized during presidential administrations since 1974 and has only been authorized four times. Read more