White House, Senate Dems say no agreement yet on moving trade deals

The White House and Senate Democrats on Wednesday said no agreement is imminent to move three trade agreements and a worker-aid program through Congress.

House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) on Wednesday said there's a path forward on a framework with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to pass the trade deals with Colombia, Korea and Panama along with the Trade Adjustment Assistance program (TAA). He said passage would most likely happen this fall. 

A Senate Democratic aide and the White House countered the statement, saying no deal has been crafted.  

“There is no agreement," the aide told The Hill. 

"There have certainly been productive conversations with the leadership in both houses on a path to pass this job-creating trade package and ensure U.S. workers have the opportunities and training they need, but so far, there is not an agreement on a path forward," the aide said.  

"We are open to any serious path that guarantees passage of Trade Adjustment Assistance in tandem with the free trade agreements.”

Under Camp's plan, the Senate would first pass a stand-alone TAA bill, the White House would send up the three trade deals to Congress and then the House would vote on all four measures separately. 

“I think that’s the outline that, certainly Senator Baucus and I both agree on, I believe the Speaker agrees on that, and I believe also the Senate majority leader does as well," Camp said Wednesday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

“I think the White House has been looking for a framework they can buy into,” Camp said. “I think now we have set out a framework that is reasonable that will ensure that TAA is done and that the agreements are voted on.”


"We need to get the White House to send up the agreements and to buy into this process,” he said. 

Sen. Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said he had not agreed to back the proposal outlined by Camp, but that it was one of the options currently being discussed.

The Montana Democrat added that he had discussed the framework with Camp as recently as Tuesday, and had also talked about the approach with the White House. But Baucus declined to say how the Obama administration responded to that particular path forward, or why the Ways and Means chairman declared that he was on board with it.

"First of all, we will find a way to get the FTAs and TAA passed. We will," Baucus told reporters Wednesday. “And what you’re now outlining here is one live option.”

Baucus also said he did not believe the trade measures would get passed until after Congress returns from its August recess.

The White House responded that talks are continuing and a deal isn't yet done. 

"The Senate has proposed including Trade Adjustment Assistance on the Korea implementing bill, and that remains a possibility while we are in discussions on other possible approaches," a senior administration official told The Hill. 

"While talks have been promising, we understand that congressional leadership is still discussing the specific sequencing and timing of a viable path to move the three trade agreements and Trade Adjustment Assistance. We hope agreement can be reached as soon as possible."

Moving forward on Camp's plan would mean the White House would send up the Korean deal without TAA attached. The White House has insisted that TAA be passed along with the trade deals, and said including TAA in the Korean agreement is the only viable way to move forward until another process emerged. 

While the Camp plan might ease the concerns of House Democrats who think their chamber can pass the bill but fear it would languish in the Senate, it still doesn't guarantee passage of TAA, a must for the White House. 

On Friday, Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said they have 12 lawmakers prepared to back TAA in the Senate, making it filibuster-proof.

Blunt said he would be willing to let Congress clear TAA before the administration sends up the trade agreements. But Portman stressed the need to send all four bills separately and at the same time.

House and Senate Democrats, along with the Obama administration, are likely to fight for a plan where TAA moves through first then the trade deals are sent up. 

At the same time, Republicans have questioned whether the White House will actually submit the trade deals if TAA is done first. 

U.S. trade officials have repeatedly reassured lawmakers that they are serious about completing all three agreements this year. 

“To get the most support we can for TAA we need to have had the agreements sent up before the House votes on TAA,” Camp said.


Still, it remains to be seen whether that turns out to be the most viable way forward. 

Camp also said he didn't think the White House would submit the FTAs until September, after the August recess, which begins Aug. 6. 

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Tuesday that administration officials had reached a “framework” agreement with Congress on how to move forward TAA and the FTAs, but said the timing of votes hadn't been worked out. 

Whether part of that plan meshes with what Camp outlined on Wednesday is unknown.

—Bernie Becker contributed.