Harry Reid offers plan to break the "FTA" Trade Impasse--Willing to Cut a Deal [View all]

[KoKo]

Senator’s strategy follows the rejection of Obama’s initiative by Democrats.
By Burgess Everett and Manu Raju5/12/15 10:32 AM EDT

Hours after Democrats rejected a core piece of President Barack’s Obama’s trade initiative, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is floating a plan to find a way out of the impasse.

After demanding that Republicans bundle four separate trade bills — and accommodate his party’s demands for more worker protections — Reid (D-Nev.) is now privately saying that he’d be willing to move the package of trade bills even if it didn’t include language designed to prevent currency manipulation by other countries, according to people familiar with the situation.

Under Reid’s strategy, the currency plan would also get a stand-alone vote, something Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) were discussing Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday, Schumer offered to remove the currency plan in a conversation with Reid.

Senior Republicans said they were skeptical of Reid’s proposal, but acknowledged talks were ongoing.

The currency manipulation provision is considered a poison pill by Republicans and is not supported by the administration, so removing it from the larger package could help the Senate overcome Tuesday’s partisan deadlock. The provision could force the White House to designate China as a currency manipulator, which the administration fears would spark a trade war with Beijing.

The liberal, anti-trade wing of the Democratic party joined with pro-trade moderates to block fast-track legislation, 52-45, in an effort to force Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to swallow additional demands early Tuesday. Democrats want the Senate to pass new worker protections and child labor restrictions, in addition to the fast-track trade bill McConnell and Obama are pushing for.

Hours after Democrats rejected a core piece of President Barack’s Obama’s trade initiative, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is floating a plan to find a way out of the impasse.

Under Reid’s strategy, the currency plan would also get a stand-alone vote, something Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) were discussing Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday, Schumer offered to remove the currency plan in a conversation with Reid.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/trade-vote-senate-mitch-mcconnell-117850.html#ixzz3Zy9q0tnt