TAA and UK FTA Proposal Could Be Productive, Members Say
Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., a member of the conference committee for the China package, said he has not talked to Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del, about his new bill to pair trade adjustment assistance renewal and a limited trade promotion authority for a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom. But, Kildee said, "I think trade adjustment is so important, I'm willing to put it on any train that will leave the station and reach Biden's desk." Kildee added that he would be cautious about agreeing to take TAA out of the China package. "But I would have to have a lot of certainty that this was not an off ramp, but an on ramp," he said.
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Kildee participated in a press conference June 23 that emphasized how important it is to pass a China package for the future of America's economy, and for the resilience of its supply chains. He, other Michigan Democrats and Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., talked about how auto workers were idled in their districts because there were nearly complete cars waiting for chips so they could ship to dealers' lots.
The trade title, which includes an expansion of TAA, is one of the thornier issues for conferees, members say.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told our reporter that he recently talked to Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., about how talks are going to bridge the gaps between the Senate and House trade titles, and that Neal told him they're making progress.
Hoyer said that he thinks Sens. Coons and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, co-sponsor of the Coons bill, have good reputations for working to get things done.
"So I think that can be helpful," he said. "I don't know the dynamics in the Senate right now, but certainly they are two constructive members who are perceived as such by their colleagues."