Senate Passes Trade Deal

A bill seen as essential to the success of a trade deal with Japan and 11 other Pacific-rim countries cleared its final hurdle Wednesday when the U.S. Senate passed Trade Promotion Authority, also known as the fast-track bill.

The legislation gives President Obama the power to submit trade deals to Congress for an up-or-down vote without amendments.

If all goes as expected, and Obama signs the bill into law this week, it will represent a legacy piece of legislation and clear the way for talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest trade deal in history.

Business and agricultural organizations have long supported the fast-track bill, which U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donahue describes as a “vital tool to help Americans sell their goods and services to the 95% of the world’s customers living outside our borders.”

Congress is expected to move another trade-related bill to the executive office this week. Trade Adjustment Assistance is a workers-aid program for sectors of the economy affected by imports to the U.S. S