The Northwest Horticultural Council
supports renewal by Congress of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).
Trade Promotion Authority is trade
negotiating authority Congress first granted to the President in 1974.
Under this authority, the executive branch is required to consult regularly with
Congress, and solicit advice from advisory committees and the public, as trade
agreements are negotiated. In return, Congress agrees not to amend
legislation implementing trade agreements, voting either up or down on such
agreements as submitted by the President.
TPA was allowed to expire in 1994 and major
U.S. trade negotiation initiatives effectively ceased as a result. On
August 6, 2006 President Bush signed the Trade Act of 2002 which, among other
things, once again granted the president Trade Promotion Authority. This
authority was used to work on many of our tree fruit
industry's trade priorities, such as reducing tariffs through WTO negotiations
and various bilateral free trade agreements.
The NHC has historically supported TPA and
advocated to obtain its passage in Congress from 1994 to 2002. We also
made it a priority in 2004 when Congress extended the authorization through June
30, 2007.
TPA expired in June 2007. While it
is unlikely that this legislative issue will be taken up by the 111th Congress,
the NHC maintains its support for this trade policy measure.
