It is hard to believe, but it has been less than a week since three of the top trade leaders in Congress came out with a new fast track bill, aka Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).  The bill is  "The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act of 2014."  In the Senate, it is S. 1900, introduced by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and cosponsored by the Ranking Minority Member, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). 

Representative Dave Camp (R-MI), the Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, introduced the bill in the House, where it is H.R. 3830.  The cosponsors on the House bill are Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA).  Mr. Sessions is the chairman of the House Rules Committee and Mr. Nunes is the chairman of the Trade Subcommittee of Ways and Means.
 
With apologies for the obvious, one name is noticeably missing from this roster.  Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI), the Ranking Minority Member of the Ways and Means Committee, is emphatically not a cosponsor of the Bipartisan Trade Priorities Act.  As Mr. Levin explained in the statement he issued on January 9:

Mr. Levin said the legislation needs stronger language on currency manipulation, including a provision for "direct relief to U.S. industries materially injured by imports."  But that was not his only concern.  In addition, Mr. Levin believes the final TPA bill should, among other things, include: stronger provisions on the role of Congress in trade negotiations, stronger provisions on transparency, provisions on labor and environment along the lines of the May 10 Agreement of 2007, and measures to strengthen U.S. trade remedy laws.

The list of those who have come out with reactions to the  Baucus-Hatch-Camp legislation may not be endless, but it is very long. 

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons praised Messrs. Baucus, Hatch, and Camp, for their "strong leadership on a critical manufacturing priority."

Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue said in a statement, "TPA is the Chamber's top trade priority before the Congress."

In his January 9 statement, NFTC President Bill Reinsch praised the sponsors of the bill "for remaining steadfast in their commitment to advancing TPA legislation."  Mr. Reinsch, who said his organization would comment further after they had reviewed the text of the legislation - it's a 107 page bill - also made this larger point about Congress and trade:

The think tanks too are weighing in.  One contribution that is likely to feature prominently in the current debate is a paper just published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.  The title is "Addressing Currency Manipulation Through Trade Agreements."  The author is C. Fred Bergsten, who founded the Institute.  And the argument is that TPP and T-TIP should include chapters with currency disciplines.

We are not going to try to review all of the elements of the new TPA legislation or all of the reactions to them.  We expect to touch on several in future entries.  Here, the point is simply to underscore that the debate Mr. Reinsch referred to is now clearly underway.

However, there is one further set of reactions to S. 1900/H.R. 3830 that should be mentioned in this first TTALK on the new bill, those of the Commerce Department and USTR.

The statement issued by Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker was specific to the introduced bill.  She said:

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman too welcomed the introduction of the "Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act," but, as we read it, his statement was more nuanced, as in this, the second sentence:

On January 16.  Tomorrow, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a TPA hearing.  The title is Advancing Congress's Trade Agenda: The Role of Trade Negotiating Authority.  The link will take you to the page on the Committee's website with details.

On January 29, the Global Business Dialogue will host a TPA discussion with a particular focus on the implications of America's TPA debate for the current negotiations, namely those on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), one of which, TPP, was meant to have been concluded last year.  Here are the details:

EVENT: TPA And The Observer Effect: The Likely Consequences of America's TPA Debate for TPP and T-TIP.

TIME & PLACE:  9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 29, at the National Press Club in Washington.

SPEAKERS:  Timothy Keeler of Mayer Brown and Daniel Ikenson from the Cato Institute have both agreed to speak, with others to be announced. Mr. Keeler was part of the USTR team that negotiated the May 10 Agreement in 2007 and Mr. Ikenson has just published a piece in Forbes on the most recent TPA developments.
The usual notice, complete with registration information will, be out later today, but you can mark your calendar right now.  We look forward to seeing you on the 29th.