Senate votes to grant Obama fast-track power on trade deals
President Barack Obama scored a major victory on May 22 when the US Senate voted to give him "fast-track" powers that would help wrap up negotiations on a 12-nation Pacific Rim trade deal central to projecting American influence in Asia.
Attention now turns to the House of Representatives, where opposition is deeper to granting the president power to negotiate trade deals that can be approved or rejected by Congress but not amended.
Obama needs trade promotion authority (TPA) to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement this year, an economic alliance that would encompass 40% of the world's economies in countries ranging from Japan to Chile.
"Today’s bipartisan Senate vote is an important step toward ensuring the United States can negotiate and enforce strong, high-standards trade agreements," Obama said in a statement issued immediately after the Senate passage.
If eventually enacted into law, the up to six-year TPA would extend to any trade deals negotiated by Obama's successor, who would take office in January 2017.
The Senate voted 62-37 for TPA, or fast-track as it is known in Washington, following weeks of bitter debate and White House lobbying.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, the Republican who shepherded the legislation through the Senate, said: "This is an historic piece of legislation...likely the most important bill we'll pass this year."