Business, Freight News

Updated: Setback in Senate for Transatlantic trade deal

[ May 13, 2015   //   Chris ]

Plans to fast-track the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) suffered a setback on 12 May when the US Senate threw out President Obama’s Trade Promotion Authority bill. While Republicans voted in favour, only one of the President’s own Democrat senators voted in favour. The bill would have sped up TTIP’s passage through the US legislature as Congress would have ceded its right to amend international trade deals for the next five years in favour of a simple yes/no vote that would have speeded up the bill’s passage. The TTIP talks are though already making only slow progress and even before the Senate vote seemed set to drag on past the hoped for late December deadline into 2016.
However, the president is still hopefull that the TPA bill can still be passed and negotiations have resumed with Democratic senators, who are demanding a number of other bills and concesssions before agreeing to support it.

Tags: TTIP