Congress regains oversight on foreign trade policy
US President George W. Bush lost his special
trade power at midnight Saturday.
US President George W. Bush lost his special trade power at midnight Saturday as opposition Democrats flexed their new grip on Congress and refused White House appeals to renew it.
Democrats, who wrested control of Congress from Republicans in January, were eager to reclaim the constitutional trade authority and set their own stamp on trade policy.
Under the TPA, Bush negotiated trade agreements that could only be approved or rejected by the legislature, but not amended.
I’ve never been surprised when Congress sticks all 4 feet in the air for corporate interests. After all, fast-tracking started back in 1975 under Gerald Ford’s Nixon-Era Frontera.
The end of TPA also highlighted a waning appetite for free trade among Americans in the face of a burgeoning trade deficit. Critics blame a swelling multi-billion-dollar trade gap with China and others for the loss of thousands of US manufacturing jobs.
Among the steps to be taken is the introduction soon of legislation to address the growing US trade imbalance with China and strengthen overall enforcement of US trade agreements and US trade laws.
No one seems to notice that some industrial nations never found it necessary or useful to roll over for the sort of trade imbalance that the Washington Junta finds perfectly acceptable.
Of course, our government’s track record for protecting American jobs or small business is a perfect match for law enforcement guarding our borders or indicting employers of illegal migrant labor.
Posted: Sun - July 1, 2007 at 09:52 AM