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Murmurings of Fast Track Push Emerges in Congress

© Bryan Johnson

Congressional staffers have indicated that Congress will seek to pass a major trade bill in 1999 that will center around fast track trade negotiating authority, renewal of the Generalized system of Preferences program, and trade benefits for the Caribbean Basin Initiative and Africa. Although the Congressional staff members, mainly from the Senate Finanace Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, did caution against being overly optimistic of such a broad trade bill actually passing, pointing out that the protracted Presidential impeachment issue could dismantle the bi-partisanship needed to pass it.

The U.S. Senate's trade agenda will be forged early in 1999, starting with hearings beginning in late January and early February. These hearings are aimed at shaping the U.S. agenda for the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in November. The Senate finance committee hopes the hearings will allow Congress to work with the Clinton Administration in outlining a trade agenda for 1999. This approach seems to be aimed at avoiding past mistakes where Congress was not prepared to deal with the Administration once Clinton forwarded a trade agenda.

The Congressional staffers indicated that one approach will be to make any trade bill much broader than just a renewal of fast track. Citing past efforts that failed to pass fast track, some Congressional members believe that in order to pass fast track, it must be attached to a broader bill, that offers greater incentives for members to support it.

Still, at least in the U.S. House of Representatives, there has been indications that there is wide support for keeping the fast track bill clean of other issues. Some members even support pulling out last year's failed fast track bill and giving it another run this year.

In any event, the 1999 agenda for trade is likely to be established early on, possibly by the end of February. As such, with Congress' attention on the impeachment trial in the Senate, members will have a short time to provide input on the agenda.

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