Cramer: House Renews Trade Promotional Authority

Press Release

Today, Congressman Kevin Cramer joined a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives to pass H.R. 1314, the Trade Act of 2015 more commonly known as Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). The bill establishes procedures to enhance Congressional authorities in shaping and implementing trade agreements. The legislation establishes Congressional trade negotiating objectives, enhances consultation requirements and information sharing with Congress before, during, and after trade negotiations, and provides the rules for Congressional consideration of trade agreements and their implementing bills.

"My support of TPA is about creating jobs in North Dakota and opening up new markets for our products and services. While the United States has sat on the sidelines, China has led in the creation of forty-eight separate trade agreements in Asia and the U.S. is only a party in two of these agreements. We have seen a corresponding 43% reduction in our country's exports to Asia. Simply put, China's gain has been our loss. We have lost jobs and businesses because markets have been closed to U.S. exports," said Cramer.

North Dakota and workers benefit from free trade. Currently, 108,340 jobs in our state are dependent upon trade and North Dakota's exports have grown from $1 billion in 2004 to $5.29 billion in 2014.

TPA ensures both Congress and the American public will have ample time to read and to understand any proposed trade agreement. The legislation mandates that the full text of any free trade agreement is available online for anyone to read 60 days prior to any vote occurring on the agreement in Congress.

"While people have tried to confuse the issue, TPA isn't new in trade negotiations. Every President since Gerald Ford has had this authority. In fact, we have had a variation of TPA since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. TPA allows us to tell President Obama and future presidents what a trade agreement should look like. The fact is the president can negotiate a trade deal with or without TPA -- he has that authority under the constitution. One often overlooked fact is the TPA legislation allows either the House or the Senate to vote and unilaterally opt out of the fast track trade negotiations. This option is an additional check upon this or any President's trade negotiation authority. TPA inserts Congress into the trade process," commented Cramer.

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