White House Says TPP Legislative Process Should Be Easier than TPA
The Trans-Pacific Partnership should be easier to pass through Congress than last year’s Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), in part because the TPP requires only 50 votes, rather than TPA’s 60, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said during an Oct. 26…
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press briefing (here). The Obama administration can point to tariff benefits that countries will provide on certain products under the agreement like cowboy boots and barbecue sauce, Earnest said. “Now there are tangible benefits that individual representatives in Congress can point to, to explain their vote,” he said. “There’s a stronger rationale for the vote. There is a stronger, more specific economic case that we can make about the benefits that the country will enjoy based on the approval of the agreement [than for TPA]. And the legislative process is not nearly as complicated as it was last summer.” Earnest said all these factors make the Obama administration more confident about its ability to sell the deal to Congress when they return for the upcoming lame-duck session.