No need yet for U.S. fast track renewal: senator

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said on Friday he saw no need yet for the U.S. Congress to renew the White House's trade promotion authority, which expires at the end of June.

The Montana Democrat's statement suggests the Bush administration may face the daunting task of trying to reach a world trade deal without benefit of the legislation, which has long been considered essential for U.S. trade talks.

Trade promotion authority -- also known as fast track -- allows the White House to negotiate trade deals it can submit to Congress for a straight yes-or-no vote within 90 days.

Many trade experts contend other countries will refuse to negotiate with the United States unless they are certain Congress cannot change the deal.

Baucus is up for reelection next year and facing criticism at home for his support of Bush administration trade deals.

He noted pending trade agreements with Colombia, Peru, Panama and South Korea will be covered by trade promotion authority (TPA), even if they are not submitted to Congress before that legislation expires in less than three months.

"If there's not a new pending agreement, whether it's multilateral or bilateral, then there's not going to be a need for TPA," Baucus said after a speech.

Baucus's comments came just one day after key trading partners set a target for concluding the troubled Doha round of world trade talks by the end of this year. They also contrast with statements he made early this year.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal on January 4, Baucus dismissed suggestions that the new Democratic majority in Congress would be bad for U.S. trade policy and laid out an agenda for action on several fronts.

"Congress should begin by renewing the administration's fast-track negotiating authority for trade agreements," Baucus wrote in January.

"The current grant expires in June, and trading partners will not negotiate trade agreements with us unless Congress gives the president the ability to bring these agreements to fruition."

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, at a briefing with reporters in New Delhi, said there was no "Plan B" for finishing the WTO talks without trade promotion authority.

"We have to get an extension," Schwab said, stressing that achieving a long-awaited breakthrough in the world trade talks would help that goal.

However, Baucus suggested Congress could need to see a completed WTO deal before focusing its attention on renewing trade promotion authority.

The Bush administration also would have to tell Congress what new bilateral free trade agreements they would like to negotiate, he said.