President Trump on Tuesday asked Congress to extend his authority to negotiate trade agreements with U.S. trading partners, and said the extension would help him deliver “better trade deals.”
“My administration has launched a new era in American trade policy, driven by a determination to use the leverage available to us as the world’s largest economy to open foreign markets, and to obtain more efficient global markets and fairer treatment for American workers,” Trump wrote in a message to Congress. “One of the major pillars supporting my trade policy is the pursuit of better trade deals.”
Trump noted his administration is in the middle of trying to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and exploring new trade partners in Asia.
“Extension of trade authorities procedures is essential to fulfill that task and to demonstrate to our trading partners that my Administration and the Congress share a common goal when it comes to trade,” he wrote.
All presidents have the authority to negotiate with U.S. trading partners, but Trump is asking Congress to extend his ability to reach agreements that cannot be altered by Congress and can only be approved or rejected in an up-or-down vote.
The U.S. for decades has extended this authority to the executive branch, which frees up the president to reach deals that aren’t later picked apart by various constituencies in Congress. Subjecting a completed agreement to the whims of 535 lawmakers would likely change the deal and make it impossible for U.S. trading partners to know whether they deal they reached will stay intact.
The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 gave President Obama and his successor the authority to negotiate trade deals that are subject only to an up-or-down vote through June 2018, as long as they meet broad negotiating objectives set out in the bill.
The 2015 law allows Congress to extend that deadline for three years, through June 2021, subject to the congressional approval that Trump is seeking.
