After weeks of legislative clashes Congress handed US President Barack Obama a major policy victory Wednesday, giving him authority to rapidly conclude a Pacific trade accord vehemently opposed by many in his party
fter weeks of legislative clashes Congress handed US President Barack Obama a major policy victory Wednesday, giving him authority to rapidly conclude a Pacific trade accord vehemently opposed by many in his party.
Bucking political tradition, the Democratic president relied on his Republican rivals to help realize the top economic priority of his second term: creating a 12-nation trans-Pacific free-trade area aimed at opening new markets for US exports in countries like Japan, Chile, Australia and Vietnam.
Obama's own party has rebelled, worried about a repeat of the 1990s North American Free Trade Agreement, which led to large numbers of manufacturing jobs going to Mexico, where labor costs were dramatically lower.
But after a major trade package including so-called trade promotion authority (TPA) stalled in Congress this month, the White House and Republican leaders secured the necessary votes to advance at least the TPA measure.
The Senate voted 60 to 38, with 15 pro-trade Democrats joining all but five Republicans to approve the measure.
TPA expands Obama's powers to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other trade deals and present them to Congress for an up-or-down vote, without lawmakers able to pick apart the accord.
The Senate also passed a bill reinstating a worker aid program known as Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), and on trade benefits for developing nations, mainly in Africa.
The TAA measure still requires passage by the House of Representatives, where a vote could come as early as Thursday.
The White House has signalled it wants both bills on the president's desk. (ika)(+++)
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