It’s Probably the Fast Track or No Deal : Bush Administration is right to push for special powers in trade talks

Two complex and all-important negotiations sit at the top of Washington’s trade agenda. The success of both would be an enormous economic and political coup. To improve its odds, the Bush Administration is asking Congress for authorization to simplify the process. This is one occasion when politics and the national interest coincide: The request for so-called fast-track approval should be granted.

The negotiations involve Mexico and Canada on one hand and the world trading system on the other. So far, the global--or General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade--negotiations have been a bust: The more than 100 participating nations have been unable, some say unwilling, to come to an agreement on new rules regarding tariffs and other trade regulations. The Administration is having more success pursuing a trilateral trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

In an attempt to push both potential agreements along, the President has petitioned Congress for special authority to conduct negotiations under a procedure that allows the Administration to hammer out final trade agreements as quickly as feasible and bring them to Congress for a straight yes-no vote. Under this so-called fast-track authority, Congress cannot amend the trade agreements. That is not to say Capitol Hill would be handing President Bush a blank check on trade. The President would still have to incorporate congressional concerns--and adhere to consultative and notification requirements.

Bush had fast-track authority for the multilateral trade talks, but needs an extension because negotiations stalled in December over agricultural subsidies. The ambitious talks, begun in Uruguay in 1986, aim to cut tariff and non-tariff barriers on agriculture, investments and other trade categories. The talks recently resumed with a seemingly new resolve. And extending fast-track authority to the free trade negotiations with Mexico and Canada would provide a mandated matrix for those discussions, which will begin this summer.

Although widely lauded in principle, free trade is still a controversial idea. So Congress is likely to raise a noisy fuss about the competitive concerns of its constituents. That should prod the Administration into making those concerns part of the agenda for the trade agreements. But after getting such assurances, Congress must not block the President’s free trade efforts. It must give the White House fast-track authority and step aside.