Fast-track approval means politicians will vote either yes
or no to any deal that emerges from the negotiations.
Without fast-track approval, the deal could be nit-picked by
politicians. Other countries are unlikely to deal with the United States on
that basis.
The political wars in Washington have become so intense and
unreasonable that there were serious doubts whether the politicians would grant
fast-track negotiating rights.
The National Pork Producers Council praised the politicians
for granting approval, but the National Farmers Union President Roger
Johnson complained that a trade deal will be “a one way ticket to bigger trade
deficits, more lost jobs and more economic devastation to America’s family
farmers and ranchers.”
Obama's negotiators have been meeting with the Japanese team, trying to clear sensitive issues before the Trans-Pacific Partnership heads into another big meeting before the end of the month.
