The State of the Union address President Obama gave last night was largely a domestic speech focused on issues on which others are far better placed to comment.  But the U.S. and global trade communities did have one big question on their minds as the hour of the speech approached:  Would the President talk about Trade Promotion Authority?  He did.  The key sentence is today's featured quote.  Here is the full paragraph with this reference to - request for - Trade Promotion Authority:

One trade analyst we consulted prior to the speech, said it would be "a bumpy ride for trade" if the President did not mention TPA.  Now it appear that, even with this expression of Presidential support for TPA, it is going to be a bumpy ride for TPA and for trade generally.

Politico published an article a short while ago with the headline "Harry Reid rejects President Obama's trade push."  The article quotes Senator Reid, speaking on the Senate floor, as follows:

Obviously, there are lots of perspectives on Trade Promotion Authority and the agreements it would cover.  This morning, for example, the Global Business Dialogue held a session at the National Press Club on TPA and the Observer Effect.  We will share some of the insights from that and from other sources in later entries.  Here we simply wanted to get into the TTALK record the President's comment on TPA in the State of the Union address as well as the reaction from the Senate Majority Leader.