The Trade Act of 2002 (; ; ''U.S. Trade Promotion Authority Act'') granted the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

the authority to negotiate

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

deals with other countries and gives

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

the approval to only vote up or down on the agreement, not to amend it. This authority is sometimes called fast-track authority, since it is thought to streamline approval of trade agreements. This authority makes it easier to negotiate deals, which engenders both support and opposition, opposition coming from labor and environmental groups. The last time the President was granted fast-track authority was to negotiate the

Uruguay Round The Uruguay Round was the 8th round of multilateral trade negotiations (MTN) conducted within the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), spanning from 1986 to 1993 and embracing 123 countries as "contracting parties". The R ...

Agreement of the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

. The Uruguay Round was completed just as fast-track authority expired in 1994. The President went without the authority until it was renewed in 2002. The trade promotion authority expired in July 2007 (except for agreements already under negotiation), but was granted again by the

Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, was a highly contested proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Sin ...

External links

* * United States federal trade legislation Acts of the 107th United States Congress 2002 in international relations {{US-fed-statute-stub

See also

External links