'Fast Track' Bill Hoped To Add Digital Trade Considerations for Trade Agreements
Newly introduced Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation is aimed at improving U.S. digital trade provisions and leading the way for trade pacts with countries in Asia and Europe, industry groups said. Introduced Thursday, the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 would also strengthen Congress' ability to slow trade agreement implementation bills, lawmakers said. Aside from procedural and transparency modifications, the bill largely mirrors the TPA legislation introduced in the last Congress.
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The bill, commonly known as "fast track," gives lawmakers on the committees with trade jurisdiction -- Senate Finance and House Ways and Means -- an opportunity to report a trade agreement implementation bill unfavorably if the lawmakers determine the administration didn’t meet congressional trade objectives, congressional aides said in a briefing. The bill would also add new provisions directing "trade negotiators to ensure that governments allow cross-border data flows and do not require local storage or processing of data,” a House Ways and Means fact sheet said. The legislation would also add a negotiating objective in recognition of "the growing significance of the Internet as a trading platform in international commerce."
The Semiconductor Industry Association board wrote congressional leaders Thursday urging prompt passage of the legislation. International trade agreements “that open markets and maintain access to the vast majority of our customers are essential to the continued success of our industry,” said the letter, signed by each of the 18 board members, nearly all of them CEOs at the largest chip makers. TPA is needed “to empower U.S. trade negotiators to reach final agreements consistent with negotiating objectives and consultation processes set forth by Congress,” it said. “This authority has been granted by Congress to presidents for decades and is needed now more than ever to facilitate high-standard agreements addressing 21st century trade issues.”
CEA was one of eight tech trade groups, including SIA, that hailed the legislation Thursday in a joint statement. “TPA that takes a modern approach to trade agreements to ensure a robust digital economy and growth of the Internet is vital to American innovation,” CEA President Gary Shapiro said. “Wednesday, we had dozens of companies on Capitol Hill meeting with their representatives to tell their stories of employment and business,” Shapiro said of CEA Lobby Day (see 1504160042). “TPA will help grow American innovation." Others participating in the joint statement were the BSA/Business Software Alliance, the ITI Council, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the Software & Information Industry Association and the Telecommunications Industry Association.
The legislation would create some important new intellectual property rights protections, Motion Picture Association of America CEO Chris Dodd said in a statement. "By establishing clear rules for opening foreign markets to exports of U.S. creative content, promoting innovation and creativity through the protection and enforcement of U.S. intellectual property rights, and fostering legitimate digital trade that will benefit both ... creators and consumers, this legislation is an important step that will benefit American businesses, workers and the overall economy for years to come," he said.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation disagreed with some of the claimed benefits of the legislation. "Data flows and the location of the processing of data aren't solely or even primarily trade issues; they are human rights issues that can affect privacy, free expression and more," it said in a blog post. "The discussion about whether laws that require local storage and processing of certain kinds of sensitive personal data are protective of user rights, for instance, cannot take place in the secret enclaves of a trade negotiation." Also, intellectual property provisions were largely unchanged from a 2002 version "and what minor changes there are do not change the previous text's evident antipathy for fair use," EFF said. The Communications Workers of America also voiced opposition in a statement. The bill "and in fact, the entire process surrounding its inception, continues the lack of transparency and disdain for U.S. workers and communities that has been the hallmark of the past five years of negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership," the CWA said.
The prospects for the bill remain unclear, though President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, applauded the introduction. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said he hopes the Senate passes TPA before the House takes up the legislation. “I hope we take it to the floor,” said Thune, who's on the Senate Finance Committee. “I think a big vote here will mean a better vote in the House. I don’t think there’s a decision made on that yet though.”