Four Trade Deals Await Action on Hill as Fast-Track Authority Lapses

By Victoria McGrane, CQ Staff

Although President Bush’s fast-track trade negotiating authority has lapsed, four bilateral trade deals completed before the June 30 expiration could still take effect if approved by Congress.

The administration signed a free trade agreement on June 30 with South Korea, meaning that deal, and three other pending agreements, still can be considered by Congress under the fast-track rules even though the authority (PL 107-210) now has expired.

With its trade agenda stalled after the Democratic takeover of Congress in 2006, the the administration earlier this year negotiated a deal with Democrats to include labor and environmental standards in the pending pacts with Peru, Panama, Colombia and South Korea in hopes of allowing those pacts to advance under fast-track.

None of the trade deals has been formally submitted to Congress yet. Congress can vote up or down on trade deals negotiated under fast track, but cannot amend them.

The administration signed the final terms of the deal with Panama on June 28, a day after the Peruvian legislature approved changes to the pending agreement with that nation.

As the fast-track expiration approached, the administration worked out changes to the South Korea pact that led to the June 30 signing of that deal. Separate talks produced a similar agreement on changes to the Colombia pact.

The agreements with Peru and Panama are expected to pass, but the fate of the more controversial deals with Colombia and South Korea remains uncertain.

The South Korea deal faces skepticism among congressional Democrats, who say the agreement does not do enough to open South Korea’s markets to U.S. autos. Critics also object to the country’s ban on U.S. beef, but experts expect the government to lift that restriction before congressional consideration of the trade pact.

“I believe that between now and when the Congress votes on the [free trade agreement], with the help of all of you in this room, Congress will come to understand the details and learn just how compelling a deal it is,” U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab said at the pact’s signing on June 30.

The Korea pact will likely be the last of the four deals Congress considers. Some trade watchers predict that the pact’s implementing legislation won’t be submitted to Congress until after the 2008 elections.

The timing of a vote on the Colombian deal remains in question as well. The administration would like Congress to consider it after the Peru deal’s implementing legislation, which could come up as early as this month. But many Democrats oppose the Colombian agreement because of the violence in that country toward union leaders. As a result congressional leaders currently oppose the agreement.

“We believe there must first be concrete evidence of sustained results on the ground in Colombia, and members of Congress will continue working with all interested parties to help achieve this end before consideration of any [free trade agreement],” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y.., and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander M. Levin, D-Mich., said in a statement June 29. “Consequently, we cannot support the Colombia [agreement] at this time.”