This time, Trade Promotion Authority does much more than before. We have long questioned why, if somebody believes in trade and wants more of it, they would insist on keeping agreements secret. This time, TPA will require information about U.S. positions on future treaties to be publicized as they are made. There is more to be done, but we’re finally bringing sunlight into the trade process.
This is a genuinely new addition to TPA and to the trade agreement negotiating process. The current bill would require the administration to provide public summaries of its negotiating positions. This will give the public something concrete to debate without having to resort to conspiracy claims or wild theories. It will also help everyone see more clearly how negotiators intend to implement the negotiating objectives of TPA.
It will also require that every member of Congress has access to the full text of the negotiations from beginning to end.
This mirrors the current policy of the administration, which was written into the 2014 TPA bill in an effort to make it official. The current bill addresses an obvious complaint by additionally ensuring that not only members of Congress but some members of their staff can see the drafts as well. The fact that members of the President’s own party are clamoring for this privilege shows how much distrust there is between the White House and Congressional Democrats on this issue.
For the treaty currently under negotiation, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as well as all future agreements, TPA will require that the entire text be made public for 60 days before the president signs it. That means a deal will be public for at least four months before Congress votes on whether to approve it.
This too is something brand new in the current bill. In the past, TPA has required various act be done prior to signing an agreement. These are still in place in the new bill. The President has to notify Congress of his intent to sign the agreement 90 days before doing so and has to provide Congress with a list of required changes to U.S. law more than 60 days before signing. There are also mandated delays between signing the treaty and introducing the implementing legislation in Congress.
All in all, the fast track process is not especially fast, and this additional requirement of publishing the text 60 days before signing won’t slow it down any. However, it will mean that the text is publicly available for longer before Congress votes.
Another new thing in this year’s TPA bill is the creation of a “Chief Transparency Officer” within the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to “coordinate transparency in trade negotiations.” It will be very interesting to see whether and how this official impacts the negotiating process.
Thanks, SCP. I just hope it doesn’t turn out like Boehner’s “We’ll post EVERY bill up for a vote, online, for at least 3 days prior to the vote”...or whatever nonsense he promised...and, didn’t follow through on.
Call me skeptical, but I just don’t trust DC when they say “trust us, we’re going to have transparency”. Wonder why that is ;-/
With 0bie, Midge and Bonehead in charge of the henhouse....what could possibly go wrong? /s
a.) 0bie no longer follows ANY rules, and
b.) Midge and Weeper just look the other way, when he doesn't!
(Can you sense my frustration on this?)
Hilarious Orwellian crap.