Full Description
Fast Track is the story of the rise and fall of U.S. leadership in international trade. Fast Track authority is the process Congress devised to approve trade agreements, giving Congress input into negotiations in exchange for a timely up-or-down vote. Foes derided it as a procedural gimmick, but it helped forge a bipartisan consensus on trade policy. Despite its successes, it was also fragile. The bipartisan consensus has since frayed and Fast Track has lapsed, allowing other countries to fill the void. This book discusses how Fast Track worked and offers a path for rebuilding consensus in favor of its renewal.
Contents
List of Illustrations
1 Introduction
1 The Origins of President Trump's America First Trade Policy
2 The Trump Phenomenon
3 The Biden Era: The Need for a New Debate
4 Roadmap of This Book
2 The Origins of Fast Track
1 Congressional Control of International Trade
2 Initial Delegation of Authority to the President
3 Expansion of the President's Role and Presidential Overreaching
4 Balancing the Roles of Congress and the President
5 Renewal and Expansion
3 The Structure of Fast Track
1 Negotiating Objectives
2 Congressional Oversight of Negotiations
3 Preparing for Approval and Implementation
4 Methods of Withdrawing Fast Track
5 An Evolving Tradition
4 The Divisive Battle to Renew Fast Track in 2002
1 The House Debate
2 The Senate Debate
3 A Second One-Vote Margin in the House
4 The Conference Compromise and the Third Close House Vote
5 TPA: A Change in Name Only?
6 Extension of Trade Promotion Authority
5 Updating TPA for a New Era
1 TPA for TPP (and TAA)
2 A Bicameral, Bipartisan Proposal
3 Committee Action
4 Senate Floor Action
5 House Floor Action
6 Republicans Improvise
7 An Updated TPA for a Changing World
8 Extension of Trade Promotion Authority
6 Fast Track and the Constitution
1 Fast Track's Place in the U.S. Constitutional Order
2 Can Fast Track Bind the Congress and Can Congress Repeal It without New Legislation?
7 Is Fast Track Necessary?
1 Uses of Fast Track
2 The Need for Legislation
3 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Treaties
4 The Need to Go through the House of Representatives
5 A Peculiarly American Institution?
8 Is There a Role for the States?
1 The U.S. Constitutional Framework
2 The Dispossession of State Power in Foreign Affairs: A Theoretical and Reality Dichotomy
3 The WTO and Sub-Federal Governments
4 The Uruguay Round Agreements Act
5 Augmenting the Model
6 The Federal Veto: Striking a Balance between International Chaos and Plurilateralism
7 A Return to Counterambition
9 A Prescription for Progress
1 The Trade Race: Is the United States Falling Behind?
2 The Schizophrenic Nature of U.S. Trade Politics
3 A Prescription for Progress: How to Find Common Ground on Trade
10 Conclusion
Appendix A: Timetable for Agreements Under the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015
Appendix B: Tables of Congressional Votes on Trade
Appendix C: Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015
Index
