insidetrade.com. April 5,2008

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and five other members of the Bush cabinet told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in an April 4 letter that the administration intends to submit the implementing bill to the U.S.-Colombia FTA without reaching an accommodation with the congressional leadership, according to informed sources.

The letter, which was sent late on April 4, does not stipulate when the administration will send the bill to Congress, but it is expected to do so next week.

The letter makes clear that the Bush administration is willing to trade off a vote on Colombia for a Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) by professing to be open to such a bill, according to these sources.

It insists that the Administration has tried to reach a deal on TAA before submitting the Colombia implementing bill, but since no accommodation has been reached, it will send the FTA implementing bill anyway, according to these sources.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) said last week that his efforts to work out a strong TAA bill were hampered because it is not a priority for the administration (Inside U.S. Trade, April 4). Separately, Commerce Undersecretary Chris Padilla last week publicly said that negotiations for a TAA bill would begin once the FTA implementing bill is submitted, but then corrected himself to say that such efforts are on-going.

Pelosi last month said that there is no interest in Congress in a vote on Colombia before a strong TAA bill has passed but business supporters of the FTA have acknowledged that it will take more than a TAA bill to secure the necessary Democratic votes in the House for the FTA.

In addition to Schwab, the letter is signed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, according to these sources.

The letter emphasizes the efforts of the Administration to address the demands of Democrats regarding the Colombia FTA in addition to developing a TAA bill, such as a strong vote on the U.S.-Peru FTA, and improvements in Colombia on the issue of anti-union violence, according to these sources. It insists that these conditions have been met, they said.

Submission of the implementing bill triggers the timetable of the fast-track law, and the administration’s rush to submit the implementing bill over the unease of business supporters is meant to ensure that the Colombia FTA comes up for a vote this year. President Bush has highlighted trade agreements such as the Colombia FTA as a priority item in the State of the Union address, partially because other major legislative initiatives such as an immigration bill have been stalled (Inside U.S. Trade, Feb. 1).

The Colombia FTA is subject to the fast-track law because it was signed before that law expired last year. Under the fast-track law, the Ways and Means Committee has 45 days to act on the bill before it is automatically moved to the House floor. The House then has 15 days to act unless Pelosi moves to change the rules of the House to no longer make the implementing bill subject to fast-track rules.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) alluded to such a rules change in an April 3 floor statement when he said that the House leadership will discuss the “full range of options available” under the fast-track law and the House rules if the White House chooses to submit the implementing bill now. He also emphasized that there are still “major long-standing issues” that must be addressed with respect to the agreement, such as violence against unions, labor rights and the need to develop a TAA bill.

The fast-track law then gives the Senate another 30 days to act, which brings the maximum legislative days for a bill under fast-track to 90 days.